Washington Code 38.38.252 – Who may serve on courts-martial
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(1) Any commissioned officer of or on duty with the organized militia is eligible to serve on all courts-martial for the trial of any person who may lawfully be brought before such courts for trial.
Terms Used In Washington Code 38.38.252
- 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 person who has an interest other than an official interest in the prosecution of the accused. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- Code: means this chapter. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- Commissioned officer: includes a commissioned warrant officer. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- 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. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- Enlisted member: means a person in an enlisted grade. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- Grade: means a step or degree, in a graduated scale of office or military rank, that is established and designated as a grade by law or regulation. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- Judge advocate: means an officer of the army or air national guard designated as a judge advocate by the judge advocate general of the army or the judge advocate general of the air force. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- Military: refers to any or all of the armed forces. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- Military judge: means the presiding officer of a general or special court-martial detailed in accordance with RCW 38. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- militia: shall mean the military forces provided for in the Constitution and laws of the state of Washington. See Washington Code 38.04.010
- Officer: means commissioned or warrant officer. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- Organized militia: means the national guard of the state, as defined in section 101(3) of Title 32, United States Code, and any other military force organized under the laws of the state of Washington. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- person: may be construed to include the United States, this state, or any state or territory, or any public or private corporation or limited liability company, as well as an individual. See Washington Code 1.16.080
- Rank: means the order of precedence among members of the organized militia. See Washington Code 38.38.004
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(2) Any warrant officer of or on duty with the organized militia is eligible to serve on general and special courts-martial for the trial of any person, other than a commissioned officer, who may lawfully be brought before such courts for trial.
(3)(a) Any enlisted member of the organized militia 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 who may lawfully be brought before such courts for trial, but shall serve as a member of a court only if, before the conclusion of a session called by the military judge under RCW 38.38.380(1) 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 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 members cannot be obtained on account of physical conditions or military exigencies. If such members cannot be obtained, the court may be convened 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.
(b) In this section, the word “unit” means any regularly organized body of the organized militia not larger than a company, a squadron, or a body corresponding to one of them.
(4)(a) When it can be avoided, no person subject to this code may be tried by a court-martial any member of which is junior to the person in rank or grade.
(b) When convening a court-martial, the convening authority shall detail as members thereof such members as, in his or her opinion, are best qualified for the duty by reason of age, education, training, experience, length of service, and judicial temperament. No member is eligible to serve as a member of a general or special court-martial when the member is the accuser or a witness for the prosecution or has acted as investigating officer or as counsel in the same case.
(c) 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. Under such regulations as the governor may prescribe, the convening authority may delegate his or her authority under this subsection to the staff judge advocate or to any other principal assistant.