Court-Martial Defense Lawyer
A court-martial defense lawyer is not something you want to find after the process has already started moving against you. Military justice moves fast, and the consequences of a conviction under the Uniform Code of Military Justice reach far beyond the courtroom: a punitive discharge, confinement, reduction in rank, loss of retirement benefits, and a federal criminal record that follows a servicemember into civilian life. These are not outcomes that a general practitioner or civilian criminal defense attorney is equipped to address. The system is its own world, with its own procedures, its own chain-of-command dynamics, and its own high-pressure realities that require someone who has operated inside it.
At Citizen Soldier Law, court-martial defense is not unfamiliar territory. The firm was founded by veterans and staffed by veterans, including retired JAG attorneys who have practiced military law from the inside. Attorney Thomas Roughneen and his team bring over one hundred years of combined military service to every case, including service in the Army National Guard and experience as both defense and prosecution-side legal practitioners. That background shapes how they approach a court-martial case in ways that a civilian attorney simply cannot replicate.
Whether you are on active duty, a Guard member, or a Reserve component servicemember, and regardless of branch, the moment you learn that charges may be preferred against you is the moment to get a court-martial attorney involved. Everything you say and do from that point forward matters. The military system is not waiting on you to catch up.
What Citizen Soldier Law Brings to Your Court-Martial Defense
Citizen Soldier Law was founded in 2013, and from the beginning, military legal advocacy was the reason for its existence. The firm’s attorneys have served as JAG lawyers on active duty and in the Reserve component, which means they understand how military prosecutors build cases, how commanding officers influence proceedings, and how administrative and criminal processes intersect in ways that can either harm or help a servicemember’s outcome. That is not the kind of knowledge that comes from reading legal treatises on military law. It comes from years of service inside the system.
The team includes retired JAG attorneys, a retired Army National Guard human resources NCO, a board-certified physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation, and a former Assistant Prosecutor with hands-on trial experience. When a court-martial involves questions of physical fitness, mental health evaluations, or medical documentation, having Dr. Alice Tzeng, M.D., board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, available as part of the legal team is a genuine advantage. Most military defense attorneys do not have a physician on staff.
Clients have described the firm’s attorneys as preparation-focused and thorough. Thomas Roughneen has stated publicly that preparation and dedication are the most important attributes a lawyer can have, and that he devotes as much time as necessary to serve every client. That commitment matters in court-martial proceedings, where the government has significant institutional resources and where thorough pretrial work is often what separates a conviction from an acquittal or a reduced charge.
Court-Martial Charges and Proceedings the Firm Handles
- General Court-Martial (GCM) Defense: The most serious tier of military criminal proceedings, a GCM can impose sentences including dishonorable discharge, years of confinement, and forfeiture of all pay. Charges that reach this level often involve serious criminal allegations, and the pretrial and trial process closely resembles a federal felony prosecution.
- Special Court-Martial (SCOM) Defense: Intermediate in severity, a special court-martial can still result in a bad-conduct discharge and months of confinement. Many servicemembers underestimate the long-term impact of a bad-conduct discharge on veterans’ benefits, civilian employment, and firearms rights.
- Summary Court-Martial Defense: While the least severe tier, summary proceedings still carry real penalties and real consequences to a servicemember’s record and career progression. Having a defense attorney available, even in an advisory capacity, before a summary proceeding can make a meaningful difference.
- Article 32 Hearing Representation: This pretrial proceeding functions roughly like a civilian preliminary hearing and is a critical opportunity to challenge the sufficiency of evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and build the foundation for a later defense at trial. Missing the strategic opportunity at Article 32 can limit options at trial.
- UCMJ Violations Including Assault, Drug Offenses, and Theft: These are among the most frequently charged offenses at court-martial. Drug offenses in particular carry significant career consequences under current military policy, and the urinalysis testing process itself is subject to procedural challenges in the right circumstances.
- Sexual Assault and Article 120 Charges: These charges carry mandatory discharge consequences upon conviction and are prosecuted with significant command and institutional pressure. Early legal intervention, before the investigation is complete, is particularly important in these cases.
- Officer Misconduct and Conduct Unbecoming: Officers face distinct charges and career consequences, including separation proceedings that run parallel to or following a court-martial. The firm handles both the criminal defense and the administrative side of these matters.
- Reserve and National Guard Court-Martial Proceedings: Guard and Reserve members can be subject to courts-martial during active duty orders, annual training, and certain other periods of federal service. The rules that govern when and how the UCMJ applies to part-time servicemembers are not always straightforward.
How to Handle the Days After You Learn You Are Under Investigation
The period between when a servicemember learns of an investigation and when charges are formally preferred is often where cases are won or lost. During that window, military investigators may approach you for a statement. They may frame the conversation as routine or informational. Do not provide a statement without first speaking to a court-martial defense attorney. The right to remain silent exists under the UCMJ, and exercising it is not an admission of guilt. It is a procedural protection, and it should be used.
Gather and preserve any documentation you believe may be relevant: communications, orders, performance evaluations, medical records, or anything that speaks to your character, your chain of command relationships, or the facts surrounding the alleged incident. Do not delete, alter, or destroy anything. Preservation is essential. If evidence later disappears and you had access to it, that creates a problem that is very difficult to walk back.
Understand the forum where your case will be heard. Courts-martial are convened by a convening authority and heard by a military judge, with or without a panel of military members functioning as a jury. Defense attorneys with JAG experience know these judges, understand how military panels are selected and how they tend to weigh evidence, and can make strategic decisions about forum election that genuinely affect outcomes. A civilian criminal lawyer trying to learn this process on the fly is working at a disadvantage that affects the client, not the attorney.
If you are a Guard or Reserve member, federal courts-martial are processed under Title 10 authority, which is the same active duty framework regardless of your home state. This matters for jurisdiction and for understanding which rules apply. Citizen Soldier Law has experience representing both active duty and Reserve component servicemembers in UCMJ proceedings across all branches.
The Overlap Between Court-Martial Defense and Military Administrative Separation
A court-martial conviction often triggers, or runs alongside, administrative separation proceedings. But even without a conviction, or even without charges being preferred, a commanding officer can initiate administrative separation based on conduct that falls below the standard expected of a servicemember. These two processes interact in ways that affect both outcomes and a servicemember’s entitlements.
An officer facing a court-martial for misconduct may simultaneously face a Board of Inquiry. An enlisted member acquitted at court-martial may still face an administrative separation board based on the underlying conduct. The acquittal does not automatically stop the administrative track. Getting court-martial defense representation from an attorney who also handles National Guard and Reserve officer and enlisted administrative actions means you have continuity of representation across both tracks, not two separate attorneys with incomplete visibility into the full picture.
There are also situations where a servicemember facing potential court-martial charges has concurrent medical issues that affect their fitness for duty. If a Medical Evaluation Board is underway or could be triggered, the interaction between a criminal proceeding and an MEB or PEB becomes legally complex in ways that require attorneys who are fluent in both systems. Citizen Soldier Law handles MEB, PEB, and IDES proceedings across all branches, for both active duty and Reserve component servicemembers, and has done so since the firm’s founding.
Questions People Ask About Court-Martial Defense
What is the difference between a court-martial and civilian criminal court?
A court-martial is a federal military court convened under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Unlike civilian criminal courts, there is no grand jury, the proceedings can include a panel of military members rather than civilian jurors, and the judge and panel members are all part of the military institution. The rules of evidence are similar to the Federal Rules of Evidence but with military-specific adaptations. Conviction at a general court-martial results in a federal criminal conviction, not a state conviction.
Can I hire my own attorney for a court-martial, or am I limited to the military-appointed defense counsel?
You have the right to hire civilian defense counsel at your own expense. You also have the right to detailed military defense counsel appointed at no cost. These two options are not mutually exclusive. Many servicemembers retain civilian counsel while keeping detailed defense counsel on the case as well. Retaining a court-martial attorney with prior JAG experience gives you the benefit of someone who can work fluidly with military appointed counsel and understands the institutional culture of military defense.
Will a court-martial conviction follow me into civilian life?
Yes. A conviction at a general or special court-martial results in a federal criminal record. A punitive discharge such as a dishonorable discharge or bad-conduct discharge has consequences for veterans’ benefits, firearm ownership rights, and civilian employment. Background checks will reflect the conviction. The civilian consequences of a court-martial conviction are one of the strongest reasons to take the defense seriously from the outset.
What is an Article 32 hearing and why does it matter?
An Article 32 preliminary hearing is held before a general court-martial to determine whether there is probable cause to believe the accused committed the offense and whether the charge should be referred for trial. It is one of the most important pretrial opportunities in the military justice process. Unlike in civilian federal courts, Article 32 hearings allow the defense to cross-examine witnesses and present evidence. Effective participation at Article 32 can result in charges being reduced, dismissed, or remanded before trial ever begins.
What happens to my security clearance if I am charged with an offense?
A court-martial charge, particularly for drug offenses, assault, theft, or any conduct involving dishonesty, will typically trigger a security clearance review. Depending on the nature of the allegations and the outcome of the proceeding, a clearance can be suspended, revoked, or denied for future positions. For servicemembers in roles that require a clearance, this can effectively end a military career even ahead of a final court-martial outcome. Addressing the underlying charges aggressively is directly connected to preserving clearance status.
Can National Guard and Reserve members be court-martialed?
Yes. Guard and Reserve members are subject to the UCMJ during federal active duty, including during annual training, special activations, and deployment orders. The jurisdictional rules for when the UCMJ applies to part-time servicemembers are specific and sometimes counterintuitive, particularly for Guard members who operate under both state and federal authority depending on the nature of their orders. Citizen Soldier Law has experience navigating these jurisdictional questions specifically for National Guard and Reserve clients.
What if I am innocent but the evidence against me looks bad?
Evidence that looks bad at first glance is often incomplete, improperly gathered, or susceptible to challenge. Chain of custody issues, witness credibility problems, procedural violations in how investigators conducted themselves, and constitutional rights violations under the UCMJ all create grounds for suppression or challenge. The government’s case is not as fixed at the outset as it may appear, and pretrial investigation by a defense attorney often reveals weaknesses that are not visible from the charge sheet alone.
How does a court-martial affect my military retirement benefits?
A punitive discharge from a general or special court-martial, or a conviction involving forfeitures, can directly affect retirement pay and veterans’ benefits. A dishonorable discharge bars most VA benefits entirely. A bad-conduct discharge may also result in benefit limitations depending on the specific circumstances. These consequences make it particularly important for servicemembers approaching retirement eligibility to get defense representation early, as the benefit loss from a late-career conviction is financially significant.
Is it possible to challenge a court-martial conviction after the fact?
Yes. The military justice system includes an appellate process. Convictions at general and special courts-martial are reviewed by the service branch’s Court of Criminal Appeals, and further review by the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces is available. Beyond the direct appeal process, the Board for Correction of Military Records provides a separate avenue to challenge convictions and discharge characterizations under certain circumstances. These post-conviction processes are not a substitute for strong pretrial and trial representation, but they do provide additional recourse when legal errors occurred.
Can drug use discovered through a urinalysis actually be challenged?
The urinalysis collection and testing process in the military is highly regulated, and violations of those procedures can create grounds to challenge the admissibility or reliability of test results. Chain of custody failures, improper collection procedures, laboratory testing irregularities, and documentation gaps have all been raised successfully as challenges in military drug prosecution cases. Whether those challenges succeed depends entirely on the specific facts and the competence of the defense attorney raising them.
What should I do if my commanding officer is pressuring me before charges have been formally preferred?
Command influence on military justice proceedings is taken seriously under the UCMJ, and unlawful command influence is a recognized legal issue that can affect how a case proceeds. If you believe your commanding officer is taking informal action against you, publicly commenting on your guilt, or otherwise influencing the proceedings before a formal outcome, document everything and speak to a court-martial defense attorney immediately. What happens before the charges are formally preferred is part of the legal record and can become a significant issue in your defense.
Court-Martial Representation Across New Jersey and the Country
Citizen Soldier Law serves servicemembers, veterans, and Reserve component members across New Jersey, including clients in Newark, Trenton, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Woodbridge, Edison, Cherry Hill, Toms River, and Hamilton. The firm also represents clients stationed at or near Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which is the largest military installation in the northeastern United States and one of the most active Reserve and Guard hubs in the region. Clients from communities throughout Bergen County, Morris County, Middlesex County, Monmouth County, and Ocean County regularly work with the firm on military legal matters.
Because court-martial and military administrative proceedings are governed by federal law rather than state law, Citizen Soldier Law’s representation is national in scope for military and disability matters. The firm has worked with clients stationed across the country and has handled UCMJ-related matters for servicemembers from states including New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and beyond. Wherever a servicemember is stationed or deployed, and wherever their legal proceedings are convened, the firm’s JAG background travels with the representation.
Speak With a Court-Martial Defense Attorney Before the Process Gets Ahead of You
The military justice system is not designed to slow down and wait. If you are facing investigation, formal charges, or a pending court-martial proceeding, the window for effective legal intervention narrows quickly. A court-martial defense attorney with real JAG experience and a background in military administrative proceedings is the right call, not a civilian attorney learning on the job and not a delay while you weigh your options. Citizen Soldier Law has spent over a decade representing servicemembers in exactly these circumstances, and the team understands both the legal and the human stakes involved.
Call Citizen Soldier Law to speak directly with a court-martial attorney. The firm’s legal team is available when you need them, not just during office hours, and they will give you a direct assessment of where you stand and what your options are. Do not let the government’s timeline become your only timeline.
