Norfolk Court Martial Lawyer Michael Waddington is an expert court martial defense lawyer defending military personnel worldwide. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has defended court martial cases in the USA, Europe, the Middle East (Iraq, Kuwait), and the Pacific (Korea, Japan). He has handled Navy cases worldwide, including Norfolk, VA. Mr. Waddington is the founder of the National Association of Military Defense Lawyers and has successfully defended numerous high profile court martial cases arising from the War on Terror. He has been reported on and quoted by hundreds of major media sources worldwide. Mr. Waddington has provided consultation services to 60 Minutes, ABC Nightline, the BBC, German Public Television and other international news outlets. Click here to read about our high profile cases. NEW Chart Listing Recent Court Martial Case Results - Discharges Listed Court Martial Case Results Since 2005 We invite you to compare our case results with ANY lawyer worldwide, civilian or military. We also provide references on request. What are the Real Costs of a Court Martial Conviction? - Learn why a quick plea deal may not be in your best interests. In a Court Martial, What Am I Up Against? In the military justice system, the Prosecution has numerous attorneys and paralegals working hard to put you in prison for as long as possible. The Norfolk Navy bases are no exception. The accused is often scared, overwhelmed, and feels helpless, and they should. The deck is stacked against them. That is what the military wants. Defendants believe that they have no choice but to quickly plead guilty. PLEADING GUILTY SHOULD BE A LAST RESORT! YET, SOME MILITARY & CIVILIAN DEFENSE LAWYERS PLEAD ALL OF THEIR CLIENTS GUILTY, EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE A FIGHTING CHANCE OR THEY ARE INNOCENT. -SEE FOR YOURSELF - ASK YOUR PROSPECTIVE LAWYER TO DESCRIBE THE DETAILS & OUTCOMES OF THE LAST 12 CASES THEY DEFENDED. ASK HOW MANY OF THIER CLIENTS WERE ACQUITTED, HOW MANY WERE NOT DISCHARGED FROM THE MILITARY, & HOW MANY CASES THEY FOUGHT IN FRONT OF A JURY (Most will squirm in their chair). Click here to see Mr. Waddington's Recent Case Results When you plead guilty, you have over a 95% chance of going to jail, getting a punitive discharge from the military, losing your rank, & you are GUARANTEED to be a Federal convict for the rest of your life. If you want to discuss fighting your case, call Mr. Waddington to discuss your options. Take a look at what you are up against & why you need a hard hitting, fearless civilian defense lawyer fighting for you (these observations are based on Mr. Waddington's personal experience in court martials worldwide): Government prosecution team members usually outnumber your assigned military defense team 5 to 1. They will often manipulate every aspect of the case and fight hard to deprive you of your ability to mount a legal defense. Some will use underhanded tactics to win. You must level the playing field with a battle tested defense lawyer. The accused is often denied requested delays and continuances so that they can prepare for courts martial, Article 32's, and boards. Some prosecutors will acquire the testimony of witnesses by offering them immunity, plea deals, and favors, so long as the witnesses help the prosecution win their case & say what they want them to say. You need a lawyer that can destroy lying witnesses and uncover corrupt prosecutors and perjured testimony. Almost always, the accused is denied expert assistance, even when the prosecution has numerous expert witnesses in the same area. Commonly, the prosecutor and SJA play a key role in ensuring that the accused is denied expert assistance. The accused is usually forced to beg the judge for the same experts that the Government has and that is often denied as well. The accused must have an attorney with the experience and skill to win a case without defense experts, if necessary. Military prosecutors often use the "shotgun approach" to charging. Their strategy is simple, charge a military service member with as many charges as possible, and they will have no choice but to plead guilty. It is not uncommon for a court martial charge sheet to be 3-4 pages long, usually with the same conduct charged over and over again, in a variety of ways. The Government has virtually unlimited financial resources and some prosecutors will try to win at all costs. CID, OSI, NCIS, & other military investigators are trained to use lies, trickery, & deceit, & they are good at it. Their official training courses teach them to use "Liars, Trickery, & Deceit" to get the job done. They will get away with as much lying as the defense lawyer will allow. You need a lawyer that can expose their lying, deceptive ways, & turn it to your advantage at trial. NEVER TRUST A CID, OSI, or NCIS AGENT. Don't trust a military lawyer that claims to be friends with OSI, CID, or NCIS. You will live to regret it, after you get out of military prison. The Government has its own staff of criminal investigators (CID, NCIS, OSI, MPI, etc.) trying to dig up dirt to use against you. They will almost always overlook, misplace, or hide evidence that helps your case. At trial, they will take innocent facts and twist them to make you look guilty. They will lie to convict you. Rank often plays a role in the outcome of your case. Almost always, the Judge, the Chief of Military Justice, the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA), most of the jury, the Convening Authority (the person that picks the jury and decides whether or not you will be court martialed), the Article 32 officer, the chain of command, and virtually every person that makes a decision in your case will outrank you and your assigned Military Lawyer. An aggressive civilian defense lawyer is not subject to rank. The Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) is the convening authority's (CA) legal advisor. The SJA has a duty to be fair, neutral, and impartial when giving advice. The SJA's role is "justice." The reality is, to many SJA's, "justice" means a conviction, hard jail time, and a discharge. The SJA is the boss, senior supervisor, and rater of the prosecutor. They are not looking out for your freedom and your family's welfare. They are not neutral. They want you in jail. Most SJA's actively strategize with their prosecutors on how to convict the defendant and maximize his jail time. Many SJAs admonish their prosecutors when they lose a case. Some SJAs will put pressure on your military lawyer to get their way. Some SJA offices will proceed to trial on baseless charges even when the Article 32 investigating officer finds that the charges are not supported by the facts. In a court martial, the prosecution can call any witnesses they want. They don't have to tell the accused what the witness will say. On the other hand, the defense, in order to have witnesses brought to court martial, must disclose to the prosecution exactly what the witnesses will say (in writing) and what role that testimony will have in the defense. Some judges require the defense to disclose even more details to the prosecution. This often reveals the entire defense strategy. In the end, after the prosecution learns the defense strategy, they can then pick and choose which defense witnesses will be brought to the court martial. In some cases (especially high profile court martial cases), extreme pressure will be put on the military defense lawyer to "not rock the boat" or "burn bridges." Mr. Waddington personally experienced this when he was an Army TDS lawyer, he was told repeatedly by senior officers, "we are all in this together" and "remember your future in the JAG Corps." Not willing to compromise his honor for a "future" as a JAG lawyer, Mr. Waddington resigned his officer commission & became a civilian defense attorney. Military defense lawyers are forbidden (by the military, not their State Legal Bar Associations) to speak or deal with the media, even if they speak the truth and it will help their client get a fair trial. They must get "permission" from their senior boss, an O-6 in Washington, DC, in order to be able to respond to negative or false press. The prosecution often releases harmful and unfounded information to the media when they file charges. In the Army, defense lawyers are even more restricted. During the high profile Bagram Prison Abuse court martials of 2005-2006, Mr. Waddington (then an Army lawyer) successfully fought false Government accusations in the media. It embarrassed the military, exposed a bogus prosecution, and revealed that the Pentagon sanctioned detainee abuse and then court martialed soldiers for carrying out their orders. In Dec 2005, in the middle of the Bagram trials, Army TDS leadership rewrote their policy and made it nearly impossible for an Army TDS lawyer to defend against negative press. BOTTOM LINE: IF YOU WANT A FAIR SHAKE IN THE MILITARY JUSTICE SYSTEM, THEN YOU NEED A FEARLESS LAWYER TO FIGHT FOR IT. If you are at the Norfolk Navy/Naval Base, then call for a second opinion on your case.