United States v. O'Dell

Opinion of the Court

Quinn, Chief Judge:

At a special court-martial, the accused was represented by counsel who was a nonlawyer in the sense of Article 27, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC § 827. The court imposed the maximum confinement that can be adjudged by a special court-martial and a bad-conduct discharge, along with partial forfeiture of pay.

A review of the record of the proceedings indicates the accused requested representation by qualified military counsel but no official action was taken on his request. Relying upon United States v Mitchell, 15 USCMA 516, 36 CMR 14, the board…