An Iowa Assistant U.S. Attorney has been nominated to serve as top judge on the Army’s appeals court by President Barack Obama, the Associated Press reported.
Patrick Reinert, Assistant U.S. Attorney for Iowa’s Northern District, is nominated to serve as the chief judge on the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, which oversees the appeals of criminal court martial convictions by Army personnel. The U.S. Attorney’s office announced the appointment Wednesday. In civilian life, Reinert became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 1990 and currently heads the office’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force.
But the Cedar Rapids-based prosecutor also serves as commander of the 150th Judge Advocate General Detachment in Alexandria, Va. — an Army Reserve Unit made up of military judges who handle courts-martial worldwide. He has conducted more than 90 courts-martial in deployments to Germany, Italy, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the AP.
Reinert graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1986 and was sworn in as one of only 14 Army reserve trial judges in 2002.
“I thought it was an interesting opportunity not only to see the courtroom from a different perspective, but also to help teach young trial attorneys their craft,” Reinert told the University of Iowa Alumni Magazine in 2002. “I hope to pass on some trial skills and teach these new lawyers how to be comfortable, confident, and enjoy their jobs.”
“The courtroom looks a lot different when you’re sitting up on the bench,” he added. “I enjoy it.”
[...] of Main Justice (also covered at Army Times): Patrick Reinert, Assistant U.S. Attorney for Iowa’s Northern [...]
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