War Stories: Mitigation for Clients Who Are Veterans – The Voice for the Defense

In The Voice for Defense, Major Christopher E. Martin discusses how military service and service-related traumatic experiences can be used as mitigation in criminal defense. The article also discusses Porter v. McCollum, 130 S.Ct. 447 (2009), the landmark U.S. Supreme Court that overturned the death sentence of George Porter, a veteran of the Korean War convicted of the first-degree murders of his former girlfriend and her boyfriend, primarily on the basis that Porter’s defense counsel failed to present sufficient mitigating evidence of his military service. Finally, Maj. Martin outlines how to locate military records, how to use character witnesses, and other resources for mitigation. Read more on The Voice for Defense.