Military Defense Lawyer (Former JAG Attorney)
News:
Recently, five different military members in
different service branches who were represented by attorney Richard V. Stevens
(Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens, P.C.) had the sexual
assault allegations and cases they faced dropped by the military (UCMJ Article
120).
One of the benefits of the change in the military
justice system that replaced commanders as the decision makers with JAG
attorneys in the Office of Special Trial Counsel is that JAG attorneys are
required to follow their rules of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and to
not make decisions based on the political winds of the day, but based on
evidence and legal standards. As such,
if a case has fatal flaws, most JAG attorneys will not push such a case to
trial while politically pressure commanders often did so. Below are brief descriptions of the five latest military sexual assault
cases to be dropped by the government:
1. The
first case was a junior noncommissioned officer accused of domestic violence
and sexual assault by his former wife in the midst of a divorce and custody
fight. Prior to the family law fight,
the complainant had never claimed she was victimized by the client in any
way. Although the complainant went to military
law enforcement with her new false claims of abuse, she apparently did not
expect that the client had kept all of their text messages. Before any charging decisions were made by
the government attorneys, we turned over text messages from the complainant
that clearly showed that the allegations were false and were motivated by her
vindictive fight to gain full custody of the children. After the government
re-interviewed the complainant with those messages, the government attorneys then
dropped all allegations against the client and cleared his record before the
case ever proceeded to charges.
2. The
second case was a junior enlisted member accused of sexual assault by a fellow
military member and fellow trainee. She
had a boyfriend at the time of the alleged sexual interaction, and she also
knew she would be in trouble for any romantic behavior between her and the
client during their training status.
Despite her false claims, we had text messages and photos that showed
all of the activity between them was consensual, it was just damaging for her
personal life and military career. We
provided this evidence to the government and the sexual assault case was dropped before it
ever proceeded to charges.
3. The
third case was another junior enlisted member accused of sexual assault after a
party by a woman who was married to someone else. In this case, we didn’t even have to turn
over any evidence. The witness
interviews made clear that the complainant’s claims were false and that she was
clearly sexually pursuing and engaged with the client despite her convenient claims that she was not interested in the client. The government attorneys dropped the sexual assault case
before it ever proceeded to charges.
4. The
fourth case was senior enlisted member accused of sexually assaulting a
civilian after a party. In this case the
pre-charging witness interviews also turned out to be the critical evidence, as
the complainant’s story was contradicted in many critical ways and she
ultimately withdrew from the case when more questioning was requested based on these contradictions. The government attorneys dropped the case
before it ever proceeded to charges.
5. The fifth
case was a senior officer accused of sexually assaulting a former romantic
partner after they broke up. Prior to the break up, the complainant had never claimed to have been victimized by the officer client. In this
case, the client (through defense counsel) made a couple pre-charging
statements, and we pointed out the problems with the complainant’s story
compared to the evidence and other witnesses.
The government attorneys dropped the general court-martial case against
the officer and instead pursued the case with low level administrative action
instead.
Had there been general court-martial trials
and sex crime convictions in these cases, the clients would have had federal criminal convictions and could have been sentenced
to a punitive discharges (dismissal for an officer), lengthy terms of
confinement in prison and, in addition, they would have been required to
register as sex offenders. Thankfully, the cases were dropped when
the truth was revealed, and these clients were spared this risk of devastation
to their futures.
While these military court-martial and sexual assault
cases were successfully defended, it is important to understand that every case
has different facts, and success in previous cases does not guarantee success
in any particular future case. No military lawyer or civilian
defense lawyer, including those who specialize in military law, can guarantee
the outcome of any military trial or case.
For more information about the military
justice system, particularly cases alleging rape and/or sexual assault in
violation of UCMJ Article 120, type "rape" or "sexual
assault" into the search bar above the blog posts and see:
https://militaryadvocate.com/military-offenses/sex-crimes/
We offer free consultations for a case you may
be involved in. Just call us.
Thank you.
Attorney Richard V. Stevens
Civilian criminal defense lawyer and military
defense lawyer
Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V.
Stevens, P.C.
https://militaryadvocate.com/
Blog postscript: I
(attorney Richard V. Stevens) am a former active duty military lawyer (JAG). My
perspectives and advice, therefore, are based upon my experience as military
defense lawyer and as a civilian criminal defense lawyer practicing exclusively
in the area of military law and military justice. This blog addresses issues in
military law, military justice, military discipline, military defense,
court-martial practice, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and other
military and/or legal topics. Nothing posted in this blog should be
substituted for legal advice in any particular case. If you seek legal advice
for a particular case, please contact The Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens for
a free consultation. These military defense law offices are located in the
Washington DC, Northern Virginia, Maryland, National Capital Region (NCR), but
the military defense representation is worldwide – when necessary, the
attorneys travel to wherever the client is stationed around the world.
