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.
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.
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