Military Crime, Civilian Arrest

new york.

if evidence is discovered after a person leaves the military (such as an admission) for a crime committed while in the military against fellow military personnel, can that person be arrested by civilian authorities in the state where the alleged crime was committed?

Originally posted by thewhirligig
new york.

if evidence is discovered after a person leaves the military (such as an admission) for a crime committed while in the military against fellow military personnel, can that person be arrested by civilian authorities in the state where the alleged crime was committed?

No but you can be arrested by the military/defense authorities and prosecuted in Federal court.

So basically, MPs would arrest you?

Then would it be a civilian trial or a court marshall?

[stephenk]

I suspect it will be a thurgood marshall.

Originally posted by stephenk
I suspect it will be a thurgood marshall.

I guess hes coming back from the grave to handle a courts martial? I didnt even think he was ever a member of the Judge Advocates general's office.

No, it would either be CID (if Army), NCIS (if Navy/Marine Corps) or AFOSI (if Air Force) or Defense Criminal investigative services (Criminal investigations division of DoD). Very doubtfull they would courts martial, however you would most likely be brought into the US District Court and charged with the crime. If the crime is punishable only under the Uniform Code Of Military Justice, than yes they can recall you (all military contracts are 4 years active duty, 4 years of Inactive ready reserve) and then courts martial you.

[racer72]

If there is a warrant for an arrest, any police, civilian or military can arrest the person. That person would then be turned over to the appropriate authorities.

[JETX]

"can that person be arrested by civilian authorities in the state where the alleged crime was committed?"
*** Racer is correct. If you have been charged with a crime, civilian or military, any law enforcement officer can arrest or detain you, then turn you over to the appropriate agency or jurisdiction.

Originally posted by racer72
If there is a warrant for an arrest, any police, civilian or military can arrest the person. That person would then be turned over to the appropriate authorities.

Federal arrest warrants are not entered into NCIC until the orginally requesting agency/agent has had a chance to either locate the subject or it is known that the subject will most likely flee prior to arrest.

Also federal bench warrants issued by a federal magistrate are not automatically put into NCIC.

Military Crime, Civilian Arrest
new york.

if evidence is discovered after a person leaves the military (such as an admission) for a crime committed while in the military against fellow military personnel, can that person be arrested by civilian authorities in the state where the alleged crime was committed?

A few questions need to be answered:

1) What is the alleged crime? If it was petty larceny, I hardly see any jurisdiction going to the trouble to haul someone back into their state for legal proceedings. If it was something more serious, the answer might be different.

2) Did the crime allegedly occur on base or off base? If it's on base, the federal government might be able to prosecute it in federal court by using the Assimilative Crimes Act. Depends on whether the alleged crime violates the law of the state upon which the base is situated. If it's off base, the local/state jurisdiction would have to decide whether to prosecute in their court.

About the possibility of military prosecution: Unless the person falls under one of the categories of personnel outlined in 10 USC 802 (also known as Article 2, UCMJ), prosecution by military court-martial can't occur.

While beyond the scope of your civilian authorities question, I thought I'd throw this in: All military contracts are NOT "4 years active duty, 4 years of inactive ready reserve." First-term military obligations are set up so the portion not served on active duty is spent in the IRR (2 year enlistee would have 6 years IRR, 6 year enlistee would have 2 years IRR, etc). Depending on the circumstances of one's release from active duty, however, the individual is sometimes discharged outright (i.e., not made to serve their IRR time) instead of transferred to the reserve to complete their inactive obligation. People who are discharged for cause (weight control, disciplinary infractions, training failure) are usually discharged outright (Makes sense...why keep them in the Reserve if they're not good enough to keep in the regular component?).