Illinois Administrative Code
Title 95 - VETERANS AND MILITARY AFFAIRS
Part 400 - ILLINOIS MANUAL FOR COURT-MARTIAL AND NONJUDICIAL PUNISHMENT
Subpart G - TRIAL PROCEDURES
Section 400.875 - Voting By the Court-Martial
Universal Citation: 95 IL Admin Code ยง 400.875
Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a) Voting and Ruling
1)
Voting by members
of a general or special court-martial on the findings and on the sentence shall
be by secret written ballot. The junior member of the court shall count the
votes. The count shall be checked by the president, who shall forthwith
announce the result of the ballot to the members of the
court.
2)
The
military judge shall rule upon all questions of law and all interlocutory
questions arising during the proceedings. Any such ruling made by the military
judge upon any question of law or any interlocutory question other than the
factual issue of mental responsibility of the accused is final and constitutes
the ruling of the court. However, the military judge may change the ruling at
any time during the trial. Unless the ruling is final, if any member objects to
the ruling, the court shall be cleared and closed and the question decided by a
voice vote as provided in Code Section 52,beginning with the
junior in rank.
3)
Before a vote is taken on the findings, the military judge shall, in
the presence of the accused and counsel, instruct the members of the court as
to the elements of the offense and charge them that:
A)
the accused must be presumed to be
innocent until his or her guilt is established by legal and competent evidence
beyond reasonable doubt;
B)
in the case being considered, if
there is a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused, the doubt must be
resolved in favor of the accused and the accused must be
acquitted;
C)
if
there is a reasonable doubt as to the degree of guilt, the finding must be in a
lower degree as to which there is no reasonable doubt; and
D)
the burden of proof to establish
the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt is upon the
State.
4)
Subsections (a)(1), (2) and (3) do not apply to a
court-martial composed of a military judge only. The military judge of such a
court-martial shall determine all questions of law and fact arising during the
proceedings and, if the accused is convicted, adjudge an appropriate sentence.
The military judge of such a court-martial shall make a general finding and
shall in addition, on request, make special findings as provided in
RCM 918(b). If an opinion or memorandum of decision is filed, it will
be sufficient if the findings of fact appear in that document. (Code
Section 51) The military judge may give any instructions necessary to clarify
the members' questions after the conclusions of evidence, or to decline to
answer any question in the event that response implicates inadmissible
evidence.
5) Included Offenses.
Members shall not vote on a lesser included offense unless a finding of not
guilty of the offense charged has been reached. If a finding of not guilty of
an offense charged has been reached, the members shall vote on each included
offense on which they have been instructed, in order of severity beginning with
the most severe. The members shall continue the vote on each included offense
on which they have been instructed until a finding of guilty results or
findings of not guilty have been reached as to each offense.
b) Procedure for Voting
1) Order. Each specification shall be voted
on separately before the corresponding charge. The order of voting on several
specifications under a charge or on several charges shall be determined by the
president unless a majority of the members object.
2) Counting Votes. The junior member shall
collect the ballots and count the votes. The president shall check the count
and inform the other members of the result.
c) Number of Votes Required
1)
No person may be convicted of an
offense except as provided in CodeSection 45(b) or by the
concurrence of 2/3 of the members present at the time the vote is
taken.
2)
All
other questions to be decided by the members of a general or special
court-martial shall be determined by a majority vote, but a determination to
reconsider a finding of guilty or to reconsider a sentence, with a view toward
decreasing it, may be made by any lesser vote that indicates the
reconsideration is not opposed by the number of votes required for that finding
or sentence. A tie vote on a challenge disqualifies the member challenged. A
tie vote on a motion relating to the question of the accused's sanity is a
determination against the accused. A tie vote on any other question is a
determination in favor of the accused. (Code Section 52)
3) Acquittal. If fewer than 2/3 of the
members present vote for a finding of guilty, a finding of not guilty has
resulted as to the charge or specification on which the vote was
taken.
d) Court to Announce Action
1)
A court-martial
shall announce its findings and sentence to the parties as soon as
determined. (Code Section 53)
2) The military judge may take such actions
as it deems reasonably necessary to secure the courtroom and safety of persons
within the courtroom prior to, and after, the announcement of court-martial
findings.
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