(a) At any time after the service of charges which have been referred for trial to a court-martial composed of a military judge and members, the military judge may call the court into session without the presence of the members for the purpose of (1) hearing and determining motions raising defenses or objections which are capable of determination without trial of the issues raised by a plea of not guilty, (2) hearing and ruling upon any matter which may be ruled upon by the military judge under this section, whether or not the matter is appropriate for later consideration or decision by the members of the court, (3) holding the arraignment and receiving the pleas of the accused, and (4) performing any other procedural function which may be performed by the military judge under this section, subsection (b) of section 27-155, subsection (a) of section 27-184, subsection (a) of section 27-196 and sections 27-141, 27-167, 27-170, 27-179, 27-181, 27-182, 27-183 and 27-193 and which does not require the presence of the members of the court. Such proceedings shall be conducted in the presence of the accused, the defense counsel and the trial counsel and shall be made a part of the record.

(b) When the members of a court-martial deliberate or vote, only the members may be present. All other proceedings, including any other consultation of the court with counsel or the military judge, shall be made a part of the record and shall be in the presence of the accused, the defense counsel, the trial counsel and, in cases in which a military judge has been appointed to the court, the military judge.

(1967, P.A. 717, S. 41; P.A. 77-295, S. 7; P.A. 89-221, S. 11.)

History: P.A. 77-295 substituted “military judge” for “law officer” where appearing; P.A. 89-221 inserted a new Subsec. (a) specifying when and the purposes for which the military judge may call the court into session without the presence of the members and the conduct of such proceedings, formerly Sec. 27-187(b), and revised former provisions of section and made them identical to former Sec. 27-187(c) by deleting a provision which authorized the court to request the military judge and the reporter to appear before the court to put the findings in proper form and required those proceedings to be on the record, by replacing “Whenever a general or special court-martial deliberates or votes” with “When the members of a court-martial deliberate or vote”, by requiring all other proceedings to be in the presence of the military judge “in cases in which a military judge has been appointed to the court” rather than “in general court-martial cases”, and by designating such revised former provisions as Subsec. (b).

See Sec. 27-193 re secret ballot voting by members of court-martial and re powers and duties of military judge.