Military Defense Lawyer (Former JAG Attorney) News:
Recently, a non-commissioned military officer (NCO) defended by
attorney Richard V. Stevens (Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V.
Stevens, P.C.) had the assault and sexual assault court-martial allegations he
faced dropped by the government prior to trial (UCMJ Articles 120 and 128).
The client was a training NCO accused
of inappropriate text communications with two junior military members in that training
course. When the investigation began, one of those trainees also made false
sexual assault allegations against the client, likely to shield herself from
scrutiny and obtain military benefits. She was successful, as she did not face
discipline for her inappropriate texting with the client, and she received
military benefits for the (false) sexual assault allegations.
General court-martial charges were
preferred and referred to trial, including four allegations of assault and
sexual assault claimed by that one complainant.
Two of the allegations were Aggravated Sexual Contact and Abusive Sexual
Contact (Article 120) and two of the allegations were Assault Consummated by a
Battery (Article 128). As trial
approached, these dubious allegations were contradicted by the forensic
analysis of the complainant’s phone. It was clear she was not victimized by the
accused military member. Ultimately, the
government agreed to drop all of the assault and sexual assault allegations,
and the client pled guilty to inappropriate texting in violation of the
applicable training regulation. Despite
this being a general court-martial, he was sentenced to no punitive discharge
(dishonorable discharge or bad conduct discharge), 30 days confinement for the
training regulation violations, and lost some, but not all, rank.
Had he been convicted of sex crimes as
charged, he faced a sentence that could have included a Dishonorable Discharge,
max. 31 years in prison, reduction in rank to E-1, total forfeitures of pay and
allowances, and he would have been required to register as a sex offender. The outcome of this case avoided a punitive
discharge, significant confinement, total reduction, and adjudged
forfeitures. It also avoided any
conviction for nonconsensual sex offenses or assault, and there will be no sex
offender registration. Thankfully, the
client can move on from this without the stigma of a sexual assault conviction
to affect the remainder of his days. The
complainant, of course, thus far has retained the military benefits she received
despite her allegations being exposed as false and dropped by the government.
While this military court-martial
case was 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: http://militaryadvocate.com/military-offenses/rape-sexual-assault-sodomy/
Mr. Stevens has been handling military cases on and off active
duty since 1995. For descriptions of
military cases defended by attorney Richard V. Stevens in recent previous
years, please see:
Other 2017 Cases:
2016 Cases:
2015 Cases:
2014 Cases:
2013 Cases:
2012 Cases:
2011 Cases:
We offer free consultations for a case you may be involved
in. Just call us. Thank you.
By: Attorney Richard V. Stevens
Civilian criminal defense lawyer and military defense lawyer
Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens, P.C.
http://www.militaryadvocate.com
Civilian criminal defense lawyer and military defense lawyer
Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens, P.C.
http://www.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 Northern Florida/Georgia areas, but the military defense
representation is worldwide – when necessary, the attorneys travel to wherever
the client is stationed around the world.