May a detained defendant in a military case have defence counsel appointed by entrusting a military judge or the prison warden with that appointment, and what must then happen?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file of this kind we read the detention record showing the accused is held in custody, since the provision speaks only of a detained defendant. We also read the written request naming the designated lawyer and addressed to the military judge, the prison warden or a delegate, and any record of the notice sent on to that lawyer, showing who sent it and when.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision as a route open to a detained defendant: that defendant may designate a lawyer and entrust the appointment of defence counsel to a military judge, a prison warden or that person's delegate, and whoever receives the entrustment must notify the gist of it to the designated lawyer without delay.
Another reading marks what the provision does not reach: it speaks only of a defendant who is detained, so it leaves open what route an accused in a military case who is not detained has, and it asks only for notice of the 'gist' without stating what that notice must contain or how it must reach the lawyer.
Your judgment
How could the file show that the person who received the entrustment was the military judge, the prison warden or that person's delegate, and that the gist reached the designated lawyer?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We revisit this card if the provision is amended to change who may make the entrustment, to whom it may be made, or to extend it beyond a detained defendant, or if a decision settles what the notification must contain.