United States v. Rankins

I dissent. First, for a number of reasons, I am unsettled by that portion of the lead opinion that suggests that the defense of duress, as that defense is defined and applied in military jurisprudence, is limited to threats posed “by third persons,” 34 MJ at 330 n. 2, and does not include threats “from some unavoidable circumstance, condition, or fact which leaves no choice of action,” id. at 328; and I certainly disagree with footnote 2 in which the author judge expresses her personal conclusion that the defense is so limited. Second, viewing that defense in the light in which it…