10 U.S.C. § 850
Section 850 · Art. 50. Admissibility of records of courts of inquiry
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 11 court decisions — leading case Conn v. United States (1967)
Most recently applied in 22 Vet. App. 415 - Henry L. Gardner v. Erik K. Shinseki (March 2009)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Use as Evidence by Any Party.—In any case not capital and not extending to the dismissal of a commissioned officer, the sworn testimony, contained in the duly authenticated record of proceedings of a court of inquiry, of a person whose oral testimony cannot be obtained, may, if otherwise admissible under the rules of evidence, be read in evidence by any party before a court-martial or military commission if the accused was a party before the court of inquiry and if the same issue was involved or if the accused consents to the introduction of such evidence. This section does not apply to a military commission established under chapter 47A of this title.
(b) Use as Evidence by Defense.—Such testimony may be read in evidence only by the defense in capital cases or cases extending to the dismissal of a commissioned officer.
(c) Use in Courts of Inquiry and Military Boards.—Such testimony may also be read in evidence before a court of inquiry or a military board.
(d) Audiotape or Videotape.—Sworn testimony that—
(1) is recorded by audiotape, videotape, or similar method; and
(2) is contained in the duly authenticated record of proceedings of a court of inquiry;
is admissible before a court-martial, military commission, court of inquiry, or military board, to the same extent as sworn testimony may be read in evidence before any such body under subsection (a), (b), or (c).
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
850(b)
50:625(b).
In subsections (a) and (b), the word "commissioned" is inserted for clarity.
Amendments
2016—Pub. L. 114–328, §5232(b), amended section catchline generally, substituting "Admissibility of sworn testimony from records of courts of inquiry" for "Admissibility of records of courts of inquiry".
Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–328, §5232(c)(1), inserted heading.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 114–328, §5232(c)(2), inserted heading.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 114–328, §5232(c)(3), inserted heading.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 114–328, §5232(a), added subsec. (d).
2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–366 inserted last sentence.
Effective Date of 2016 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 114–328 effective on Jan. 1, 2019, as designated by the President, with implementing regulations and provisions relating to applicability to various situations, see section 5542 of Pub. L. 114–328 and Ex. Ord. No. 13825, set out as notes under section 801 of this title.