Legal Question in Military Law in North Carolina

Re: military law

You would think that to be the case, but it's a little more complex. Some military bases are exclusively federal property and have exclusive federal jurisdiction. Some bases, on the other hand, have concurrent state and federal jurisdiction. The latter is the more common situation. So if a murder occurs on a military base where there is concurrent jurisdiction and the state is investigating with a view towards prosecution, the state may assume jurisdiction and the military will defer. Sometimes the military commander will seek to assume jurisdiction and convince the state or local district attorney to forego jurisdiction in favor of a military prosecution. This usually occurs when there is a perception that there is a greater military interest than that of the surrounding civilian community. For example, if both the alleged perpetrator and victim are military members, one would imagine that the military would have the greater interest in maintaining good order and discipline than the surrounding civilian community would have in "fighting crime," and the civilian district attorney would agree to turn the case over to military investigators and prosecutors. But there is no hard and fast rule about that. It is worked out on a case by case basis.