ACTION OF THE IRO.- When the IRO completes the review, he or she approves continued confinement or orders immediate release. The IRO writes a memorandum that contains conclusions and supporting factual findings. A copy of the memorandum and all documents considered in each case are kept until completion of appellate review. Copies are given to the accused or the government on request. Your office must receive and keep copies for future reference and as part of the accused's court-martial file.

The IRO will, after notice to the parties, reconsider the decision to confine the accused upon a request based upon significant information not previously considered.

If the decision of the IRO is for immediate release, he or she will so notify the accused's CO. The CO then directs the appropriate corrections officer to release the accused immediately, with a copy of the release order forwarded to the OEGCMJ.

The decision of the IRO to release the accused is final and binding upon the CO, corrections officer, and OEGCMJ. No administrative appeal of the IRO's decision is authorized or permissible.

The command may not re-confine unless:

discovery of a new offense that may authorize pretrial confinement; or

discovery of any other evidence establishing that the accused will flee to avoid trial; or

discovery of any other evidence establishing both a lawful basis and a need for pretrial confinement.

Once charges for which the accused has been confined are referred to trial, the military judge reviews the propriety of pretrial confinement. The IRO is divested of authority to order the accused's release or continued pretrial confinement when the charges are referred to a court-martial.

EVIDENCE

Another very important duty before the trial is the preservation of evidence. Evidence must be maintained until retrieved for trial. Every NLSO has to deal with evidence used in cases tried by court-martial. The proper identifying, safeguarding, and maintaining of this evidence is a critical task that must be performed efficiently and accurately. Sometime in your LN career, you will hear of tales of evidence that were inappropriately safeguarded. To avoid this, you will learn in this section the importance of proper procedures

Figure 6-22.-Sample letter to initial review officer.

for handling evidence from initial receipt to final disposition.

Black's Law Dictionary defines evidence as "Any species of proof, or probative matter, legally presented at the trial of an issue, by the act of the parties and through the medium of witnesses, records, documents, exhibits, concrete objects, and so on, for the purpose of inducing belief in the minds of the court or jury as to their contention." Said another way, evidence is anything that tends to prove or disprove any matter in question, or to influence the belief regarding it.

The MCM, 1984, sets forth the rules of evidence to be used before courts-martial. As an LN, you will not be particularly concerned with the rules of evidence. Such matters are best left to the lawyers. However, you will be concerned with preserving evidence for use at trial.

Constitutional Requirements

You have already covered the requirements for taking statements and conducting searches and seizures in chapter 5. Perhaps a review of chapter 5 would be helpful at this point.

Unless the suspect or accused is afforded all the rights that he or she is legally entitled to, any evidence obtained from him or her, whether it be a statement or seized articles, may be contested in court and found inadmissible as evidence. Thus, it is very important that all legal rights be afforded the suspect or accused.