United States v. Denedo

Summary

The Court held that military appellate courts have jurisdiction to entertain a coram nobis petition alleging a fundamental defect in a conviction they previously reviewed. That jurisdiction derives from their statutory jurisdiction over the original criminal proceeding, not independently from the All Writs Act, and Article 76's finality provision does not remove it. The Court also held that the CAAF's remand for consideration of Denedo's petition granted relief sufficient to permit Supreme Court review. It affirmed and remanded without deciding whether Denedo deserved the writ. Chief Justice Roberts, joined by Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito, concurred in the Supreme Court jurisdiction ruling but dissented from the military-court jurisdiction holding, reasoning that Congress's narrowly drawn military jurisdiction statutes do not authorize this post-finality review.