La. Admin. Code tit. 41 § II-428

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section II-428 - Summarized Article 15

A. General. A summarized Article 15 may be imposed by any commander who may impose a formal Article 15. It should be used for only very minor offenses, and where the preliminary inquiry convinces the commander that any punishment that might be imposed should not exceed the following:

1. 14 days extra duty;

2. 14 days restriction;

3. an oral admonition or reprimand;

4. any combination of these punishments.

B. Procedures. A service member offered a summarized Article 15 may request, but does not have a right, to consult with legal counsel provided by the Government before deciding whether to accept the Article 15, he does not have the right to be accompanied by a spokesperson at the hearing, and he normally must decide whether to accept the Article 15 or demand trial by court-martial within 24 hours. Otherwise, he has the same rights under the summarized procedure that he does under the formal procedure.

C. Notification and Explanation of Proceedings. If an imposing commander determines that summarized proceedings are appropriate, the designated subordinate officer or NCO or the commander personally will notify the service member of the following:

1. the imposing commander's intent to initiate proceedings under Article 15, LCMJ;

2. the fact that the imposing commander intends to use summarized proceedings and the maximum punishments impossible under these proceedings;

3. the right to remain silent;

4. offense(s) the service member has allegedly committed and the Article(s) of the LCMJ violated;

5. the right to demand trial;

6. the right to confront witnesses, examine the evidence, and submit matters in defense, extenuation, and/or mitigation; and

7. the right to appeal.

D. Hearing. Unless the service member demands trial by court-martial within the decision period, the imposing commander may proceed with the hearing, which should consist of the following:

1. consideration of evidence, written or oral, against the service member;

2. examination of available evidence by the service member;

3. presentation by the service member of testimony of available witnesses or other matters, in defense, extenuation, and/or mitigation;

4. determination of guilt or innocence by the imposing commander;

5. imposition of punishment or termination of the proceedings; and

6. explanation of right to appeal.

E. Record of Proceedings. DA Form 2627-1 (Summarized Record of Proceedings under Article 15, UCMJ) will be used to record the proceedings, which may be handwritten. An illustrated example of a completed DA Form 2627-1 is shown at Figure 4-5. Except as provided above, the same rules and limitations concerning punishments, appeal, and clemency are applicable to summarized proceedings as in the case of formal proceedings.

F. Filing/Destruction of DA Form 2627-1 The Summarized Article 15 form will be maintained locally in the unit's non-judicial punishment files, and shall be destroyed at the end of two years from the date of imposition of punishment or on the service member's transfer from the unit, whichever occurs first. A copy will be provided to the service member on a request submitted during the filing period.

La. Admin. Code tit. 41, § II-428

Promulgated in accordance with the Office of the Governor, State Military Department, LR 35:2367 (November 2009).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 29:11(F).