West Virginia Code 15-1E-25 – Who may serve on courts-martial
(a) Any commissioned officer of the state military forces is eligible to serve on all courts-martial for the trial of any person subject to this article.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 15-1E-25
- accuser: means a person who signs and swears to charges, any person who directs that charges nominally be signed and sworn to by another, and any other person who has an interest other than an official interest in the prosecution of the accused. See West Virginia Code 15-1E-1
- convening authority: includes , in addition to the person who convened the court, a commissioned officer commanding for the time being or a successor in command to the convening authority. See West Virginia Code 15-1E-1
- enlisted member: means a person in an enlisted grade. See West Virginia Code 15-1E-1
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- judge advocate: means a commissioned officer of the organized state military forces who is an attorney licensed to practice in this state or is a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of another state, who is admitted pro hac vice to practice in this state, and is any of the following: Certified or designated as a judge advocate in the Judge Advocate General'. See West Virginia Code 15-1E-1
- military judge: means an official of a general or special court-martial detailed in accordance with section twenty-six of this article. See West Virginia Code 15-1E-1
- officer: means a commissioned or warrant officer. See West Virginia Code 15-1E-1
- record: when used in connection with the proceedings of a court-martial, means - an official written transcript, written summary, or other writing relating to the proceedings. See West Virginia Code 15-1E-1
- State: means one of the several states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U. See West Virginia Code 15-1E-1
- State military forces: means the National Guard of the state, as defined in title 32, United States Code, to include the West Virginia Army National Guard, the West Virginia Air National Guard and the inactive National Guard, and shall be deemed to include any unit, component, element, headquarters, staff or cadre thereof, as well as any member or members, when not in a status subjecting them to exclusive jurisdiction under chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code. See West Virginia Code 15-1E-1
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(b) Any warrant officer of the state military forces is eligible to serve on general and special courts-martial for the trial of any person subject to this article, other than a commissioned officer.
(c) Any enlisted member of the state military forces who is not a member of the same unit as the accused is eligible to serve on general and special courts-martial for the trial of any enlisted member subject to this article, but that member shall serve as a member of a court only if, before the conclusion of a session called by the military judge under subsection (a), section thirty-nine of this article prior to trial or, in the absence of such a session, before the court is assembled for the trial of the accused, the accused personally has requested orally on the record or in writing that enlisted members serve on it. After such a request, the accused may not be tried by a general or special court-martial the membership of which does not include enlisted members in a number comprising at least one third of the total membership of the court, unless eligible enlisted members cannot be obtained on account of physical conditions or military exigencies. If such members cannot be obtained, the court may be assembled and the trial held without them, but the convening authority shall make a detailed written statement, to be appended to the record, stating why they could not be obtained. In this section, "unit" means any regularly organized body of the state military forces not larger than a company, a squadron, a division of the naval militia, or a body corresponding to one of them.
(d) When it can be avoided, no person subject to this article may be tried by a court-martial any member of which is junior to the accused in rank or grade.
(e) When convening a court-martial, the convening authority shall detail as members thereof such members of the state military forces as, in the convening authority's opinion, are best qualified for the duty by reason of age, education, training, experience, length of service, and judicial temperament. No member of the state military forces is eligible to serve as a member of a general or special court-martial when that member is the accuser, a witness, or has acted as investigating officer or as counsel in the same case.
(f) Before a court-martial is assembled for the trial of a case, the convening authority may excuse a member of the court from participating in the case. The convening authority may delegate the authority under this subsection to a judge advocate or to any other principal assistant.