Plenary 10: Military Criminal Justice: What You Should Know

Session Description:

Consistent with Congress’s constitutional authority to “make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces,” the military has an entirely separate system of criminal justice that servicemembers—and occasionally civilians—are subject to. The military justice system can, no doubt, be insular, but civilian courts, practitioners—and indeed, citizens at large—intersect with military courts in important ways. This panel seeks to provide those outside the military justice system the basics from a variety of perspectives from within it.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the different types of court-martial;
• Understand the trial and appellate level courts that adjudicate courts-martial, their structure and jurisdiction;
• Understand an accused’s rights in the military justice system; and
• Understand a victim’s rights in the military justice system.

Chelsea Manning. Abu Ghraib. Bowe Bergdahl. Military appellate courts have confronted some of the most newsworthy legal cases in the past two decades. But what do military courts look like? How do they function? How are they similar or dissimilar to courts of general jurisdiction? The audience will be introduced to the world of military justice by some of its top judges and practitioners.

Hon. M. Tia Johnson, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

Prior to ascending to the bench, Judge Johnson was formerly a Visiting Professor of Law, and Director, National Security Law LL.M Program at Georgetown Law and a Visiting Fellow at Georgetown’s Center on National Security and the Law. She is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for National Security Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. Immediately prior to her appointment at Georgetown, she served in the Obama Administration as the Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Before that, Judge Johnson was the Senior Advisor to the Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Judge Johnson retired from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where she specialized in international and national security law. In 2002, she became the first African American female to be selected to the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army’s JAG Corps’ 227-year history. In her final assignment, she served as the Senior Military Assistant to the Department of Defense General Counsel.

Judge Johnson is a Member of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security. She is a contributing author to the ABA’s recently published, “The U.S. Intelligence Community Law Sourcebook, 2021-2022 Edition.”

Judge Johnson obtained her J.D. from Temple University, and two LL.Ms; one from the Judge Advocate Generals’ School, and the other from the University of Virginia School of Law. She also has a M.S. in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. In addition to her numerous military awards, Judge Johnson has been recognized by the civilian bar. She is a 1995 joint recipient of the American Bar Association’s Hodson Award for Outstanding Public Service. In 2002, she was inducted into the National Bar Association’s Military Law Section Hall of Fame. In 2005, she was selected as the American Bar Association’s Outstanding Military Service Career Judge Advocate. In recognition of her outstanding accomplishments, in 2022, she was selected for Induction into the U.S. Army Women’s Hall of Fame.

Col. Iain Pedden, USMC Director, Appellate Government Division, Office of the Judge Advocate General

Colonel Pedden holds a bachelor’s degree from Grand Valley State University (1998) and a juris doctor from Loyola University Chicago (2002). During law school he served as Technical Editor of the International Law Review, competed on the Niagara Cup moot court team, and completed a summer clerkship in the chambers of the Hon. H. David Soet of the 17th Judicial Circuit of Michigan. He attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 2001.

From January 2001 to June 2003, he clerked in the Criminal Appeals Division of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, drafting briefs for the Illinois Appellate and Supreme Courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He specialized in legal issues related to canine deployment, 4th Amendment jurisprudence, and death penalty litigation.

Lieutenant Pedden began active duty in June 2003. Following completion of Naval Justice School, he reported to Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni, Japan, serving as Defense Counsel and Senior Defense Counsel, Legal Assistance Officer, and Trial Counsel.

Captain Pedden next reported to MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, where he served as Civil Law and Review Officer, Chief Trial Counsel, Military Justice Officer, and Deputy Air Station Staff Judge Advocate (SJA). During this tour he deployed to the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan as battalion judge advocate to Second Battalion, Eighth Marines.

From 2010 to 2011, Captain Pedden attended the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School (TJAGLCS) in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he received a Master of Laws (LL.M.) with honors and the inaugural Semper Fidelis leadership award. His LL.M. paper was later published in a law of war volume.

In June 2011, Captain Pedden reported as SJA to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and through February of 2012 served as SJA to both the MEU and to 2d Marine Logistics Group.

Major Pedden returned to TJAGLCS in June 2014 to join the faculty as Associate Professor of Criminal Law. He taught evidence and constitutional law and managed the Intermediate Trial Advocacy Course. During this tour, he also earned certifications as Special Victims Counsel (SVC), Child SVC, and Victim’s Legal Counsel (VLC), and was certified and sworn as a General Court-Martial Military Judge.

In July 2017, Major Pedden assumed duties as Branch Head of Military Justice at Headquarters Marine Corps in the Pentagon. As primary legal advisor to the SJA to the Commandant on criminal justice matters, he researched and recommended Marine Corps policy positions on revisions to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and other legislation and designed Marine Corps training and implementation efforts related to the Military Justice Act of 2016. He also sat as a voting member of the Joint Service Committee on Military Justice and led Task Force teams related to social media misconduct and reporting military criminal justice information to the FBI to prevent unlawful firearms transfers.

In 2019 Lieutenant Colonel Pedden matriculated to the National War College, graduating in June 2020 with a Master of Science degree in National Security Studies. He then assumed command of Marine Corps Embassy Security Group Region 5, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, leading Marine Security Guards at 22 embassies and consulates in 17 countries on 3 continents across Scandinavia, Western Europe, and the Mediterranean.

Lieutenant Colonel Pedden assumed duties as Chief Victims’ Legal Counsel (CVLC) in August 2022. As CVLC, he led Marine judge advocates and civilian legal professionals who provide legal advice, assistance, and representation to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other serious offenses at all stages of the military justice process.

Colonel Pedden assumed duties as Director of Code 46 in June 2024 and is responsible for the prosecution of all appeals in military justice matters throughout the Department of the Navy. He is a member of the bars of the State of Illinois, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

Col. Pilar G. Wennrich, Chief of the Appellate Defense Division, Military Justice and Discipline Directorate, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland

Colonel Wennrich serves as the Chief of the Appellate Defense Division, Military Justice and Discipline Directorate, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. In this role, she supervises 23 attorneys and paralegals providing appellate defense services across both the Air Force and Space Force worldwide.

Since entering active duty, Colonel Wennrich has served at the base-level as a Staff Judge Advocate, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, and as Chief of Military Justice, Adverse Actions, Civil Law, Claims, and Legal Assistance. She deployed to Baghdad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She also previously served as an Area Defense Counsel, a Senior Defense Counsel, a Numbered Air Force Chief of Military Justice, as both the Chief of Justice and Court Activities and the Chief of Policy and Precedent at JAJM, the Deputy Chief of the Special Victims’ Counsel Division, and as a Military Judge.

Colonel Wennrich received her commission by direct appointment in October 2004. She is a member of the New Mexico state bar and is also licensed to practice before the US Supreme Court, US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. She has two children.

CDR Jenn Fraser, Navy Reserve JAG, United States Pacific Fleet

A native of San Diego, California, Jenn Fraser is a graduate of Jacksonville University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science in 1 998 . Upon graduation, she was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC). She then reported to flight training in Pensacola, Florida and earned her pilot wings.

In 2000, she was assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Two in Norfolk, Virginia and flew the venerable S ikorsky UH-H3 Sea King. She deployed twice to the Arabian Gulf in support of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Following her operational tour, she reported to the Bronx, NY as a NROTC Instructor. While on active duty she attended S t. John’s University, School of Law and earned her J. D. in December 2008 . During law school, she clerked at the U. S . District Court, Eastern District New York in Brooklyn, researched legal issues for the International Society for Animal Rights, and worked as a legal assistant at O’Hare Parnagian LLP in Manhattan.

In 201 0 after leaving active duty, she worked as an Assistant District Attorney (ADA) in the Domestic Violence (DV) Bureau at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, NY. As an ADA in one of the largest prosecutor’s offices in the country, she presented cases to the Grand Jury involving

attempted murder, strangulation, rape, stalking, and assault; litigated motions and evidentiary hearings; and prosecuted DV offenders at trial. She affiliated with the Navy Reserves and was assigned to NOSC Long Island, NY as the Assistant Officer-in-Charge (AOIC) of the Security Force Assistance

Detachment. She later earned a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from Loyola University of New Orleans, LA in 201 4. In 201 5 , she laterally transferred within the Navy Reserves to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAGC). She was recalled to active duty and stationed in Honolulu, HI as a Victims’ Legal Counsel (VLC) and OIC for the Pacific Region.

Following her VLC tour, she worked as in-house counsel for the Boulder Police Department in Boulder, CO and advised on police practices and the implementation of sweeping state legislation affecting law enforcement policies and procedures stemming from the national call for police reform.

Currently, as a Navy Reserve JAG, CDR Fraser is assigned to the Pacific Fleet Legal Unit, and in her civilian capacity, she serves as an attorney-advisor for the Navy’s VLC Program advising on victims’ rights in policy and appellate matters. Jenn Fraser is licensed to practice law in New York and Colorado.

Hon. Kurt Brubaker, Judge, United Stated Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals (Moderator)

Kurt Brubaker is a judge on the United States Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals. He primarily hears appeals and petitions from courts-martial, but on occasion also assists with administrative appeals of civil penalties and suspension and revocation of merchant mariners’ documents and licenses.

Judge Brubaker was born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area. In 1987, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and received a commission through the Naval ROTC program as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. Initially an infantry officer, he served as platoon commander, battalion legal officer, and company executive officer with 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 29 Palms, California, then as executive officer and ultimately as commanding officer of Marine Barracks, Annapolis, Maryland. After being accepted into the Marine Corps Law Education Program, he earned his juris doctorate with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law and, in 1996, embarked on a career as a Marine judge advocate. His assignments included: trial counsel; review officer; director of legal assistance; senior defense counsel; military justice officer; Prosecutor, Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions; Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, Marine Corps Bases, Japan; Staff Judge Advocate, 3d Marine Division; Staff Judge Advocate, 3d Marine Aircraft Wing; Director, Department of the Navy Appellate Government Division; Officer in Charge, Legal Services Support Section, National Capital Region; and Chief Judge, Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals. His service includes two combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Colonel Brubaker’s individual military awards include the Legion of Merit (3), the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (1), the Meritorious Service Medal (4), the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2), the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the NATO Medal–ISAF Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (4), and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Upon retiring from the Marine Corps in 2016, Judge Brubaker served as the Clerk of the Court, U.S. Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. In 2017, the Secretary of Homeland Security appointed him to his current position.

He and his wife Susan live in Alexandria, Virginia. They have three grown children, Catherine, Sarah, and Erich.