In the military there are multiple types of administrative investigations as well as different levels of criminal investigations. Administrative investigations will not result in a criminal conviction or confinement, but they can still end your career and leave you with a negative characterization of service, which will follow you for the rest of your life. For both administrative and criminal military investigations, you will be asked to make a statement, but you won’t have access at this stage to the evidence against you. What do you do in this situation? The best thing to do is contact an experienced military investigations lawyer before doing or saying anything.

The standard advice is – don’t say anything. This is sometimes the best approach, but not always. You want to be extremely careful about what you say for a variety of reasons: you will be stuck with your statement as your defense at a court-martial, you might falsely confess, you may give the investigators evidence they didn’t otherwise have, you could implicate yourself in other misconduct, you could provide exonerating evidence, but actually be establishing elements of the criminal charge making the prosecution’s job easier (such as when the alleged sexual assault is consensual), or you could provide the fodder for an additional charge of false official statement. But sometimes you should make a statement or provide the investigators with exonerating evidence. There is no one-size fits all and your military investigation attorney should be able to advise you on the best way to handle your specific military investigation.

In the administrative investigation context, the standard of proof is very low, a preponderance of the evidence. This means, if more than 50% of the of the evidence is against you, you will be found guilty. For example, if someone makes a complaint against you and you do not provide the investigating officer with any evidence or statement of any kind, the preponderance of the evidence threshold may be easily met. The challenge is how to make a statement or present evidence without making a mistake or providing evidence that hurts your case. This is where the strategy and advice of an experienced military defense lawyer is especially important.

If you are in this situation you may need a military defense attorney as your liaison who knows the ins and outs not just of criminal law, but also of military investigations. The experience our team has in administrative law, the military prosecution side, the defense side, and in leadership roles within the military legal system makes us an unparalleled resource to beating the investigation against you.

If you are under investigation contact the Law Office of Natanyah Ganz now to speak to one of our military investigation lawyers to discuss your options.  The consultation is free and confidential.