Legal Question in Military Law in Virginia

Re: alledged navy deserter

Despite what the Navy alleges, your husband is likely NOT a deserter and he should never admit to the fact that he "deserted." The UCMJ offense of desertion has an intent element that you likely have not satisfied (in other words, if you intent to return to military control at a later point in time you are not a deserter, only AWOL). If and when he does go back, he should not admit to the fact that he "deserted" and should refuse to sign any paper that uses the word "desertion" on it unless he talks to a lawyer first.

Beyond that, I would suggest that your husband should either call his command, or better yet get a lawyer to call his command. It would be definitely best to negotiate the situation before he turns himself in. The situation could be a misunderstanding, or it could be a situation where your husband didn't follow up on something he should have done, but in either case it would be best to communicate with his command that he thought he was already discharged and that he seeks to get this resolved as soon as possible.

Also, I would prepare as much documentation as possible to show the severeity of the ADHD, as well as any other medical or mental health conditions, family hardship situations, etc. that would be helpful to demonstrate to the Navy that they don't want him.

Good luck with the situation. I'm not taking that many Navy cases, but if you need a referal to a good lawyer in your area who could help feel free to get in touch with me. I also would recommend contacting the Military Law Task Force (www.nlgmltf.org), as they are a great resource and can get you in touch with a competent lawyer who can help.

Re: alledged navy deserter

Although you expected that he would be separated in January, it appears that he was not actually discharged and has been listed as UA. What he needs to do is to go back to his unit to get this straightened out. Hopefully they will just give him the general discharge they were going to give him, but they might play hard ball and try to push for a bad discharge. I will do whatever I can to help you, but he will have to turn himself into his unit to get this resolved. Contact me if you have any questions.