Yes, a court-martial’s findings can be reopened and set aside if there is a post-trial discovery of a “fraud on the court.” A fraud on the court is an egregious and intentional act by a participant—such as the prosecutor, a witness, or even the judge—that is designed to deceive the court and subvert the impartial administration of justice. This is one of an appellant’s most powerful, albeit rare, post-trial claims.
Examples of procedural fraud include the prosecutor knowingly using perjured testimony to secure a conviction, a key government witness later admitting that they deliberately lied about a material fact, or the discovery that the military judge had an undisclosed, disqualifying conflict of interest. This is more than just a simple legal error; it is a deliberate corruption of the judicial process itself.
When such a fraud is discovered, the appellate defense attorney will file a petition for a new trial or a writ of habeas corpus. The petition will present the evidence of the fraud. If the appellate court finds that a fraud on the court occurred, it will almost certainly find that the trial was fundamentally unfair. The remedy is typically to set aside the findings and the sentence and to authorize a new trial. In some cases, if the fraud was particularly severe, the court may dismiss the charges with prejudice.