CIVILIAN COURT-MARTIAL DEFENSE LAWYER: MILITARY DEFENSE LAW OFFICES OF RICHARD V. STEVENS

Monday, November 02, 2020

CIVILIAN COURT-MARTIAL DEFENSE LAWYER: RETIREMENT ELIGIBLE SENIOR FIELD GRADE MILITARY OFFICER REPRESENTED BY ATTORNEY RICHARD V. STEVENS HAS DISCIPLINARY ACTION SET ASIDE AND RECORD CLEARED

Military Defense Lawyer (Former JAG Attorney) News:

Recently, a retirement eligible senior field grade military officer defended by attorney Richard V. Stevens (Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens, P.C.) had the disciplinary action he received set aside and his record was cleared for retirement.

Because this was an administrative disciplinary case, there are Privacy Act issues and regulations that preclude the reporting of specific details. However, what can be generally described is…

The senior military officer client was investigated for alleged wrongdoing and received an administrative disciplinary action despite his rebuttal. We appealed that disciplinary action and the appeal was granted, setting aside the disciplinary action, removing it from his records, and clearing his way to retirement.

While this military 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 administrative disciplinary cases, please see:

https://militaryadvocate.com/practice-areas/administrative-discipline-actions/

https://militaryadvocate.com/practice-areas/article-15-njp-captains-mast-office-hours/

https://militaryadvocate.com/practice-areas/administrative-dischargeseparation/

https://militaryadvocate.com/practice-areas/performance-report-appeals/

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.

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.

Monday, October 19, 2020

CIVILIAN COURT-MARTIAL DEFENSE LAWYER: SECOND RECENT JUNIOR ENLISTED MILITARY MEMBER REPRESENTED BY ATTORNEY RICHARD V. STEVENS HAS SEXUAL ASSAULT COURT-MARTIAL CASE DROPPED (UCMJ ARTICLE 120)

Military Defense Lawyer (Former JAG Attorney) News:

Recently, a second junior enlisted military member defended by attorney Richard V. Stevens (Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens, P.C.) had the sexual assault court-martial case he faced dropped by the military after a pretrial motion hearing (UCMJ Article 120).

The military client was accused of, and investigated for, allegedly sexually and physically assaulting his former military girlfriend. Their relationship ended badly, and the complainant began dating another co-worker. She then made her formal complaints that she was physically and sexually assaulted by the client during the relationship. Charges were preferred against the client and the case proceeded past the Article 32 hearing and was referred to trial by general court-martial.

As the case proceeded toward the “felony” type military trial, the defense filed multiple motions that were heard during the pretrial motion hearing. These motions addressed the complainant’s background and issues regarding her credibility and reliability. Some motions were heard in a closed motion hearing session. After the motion hearing concluded, the case looked very different than it did during the military’s investigation. Still, the case proceeded toward trial. On the week before trial, with the motion rulings pending, the government elected to drop the court-martial charges and case against the client, and resolved the case with administrative action instead.

Had there been a court-martial trial and sex crime conviction in this case, the client could have been sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, a lengthy term of confinement in prison (possibly decades) and, in addition, he would have been required to register as a sex offender. Thankfully, the court-martial case was dropped and he was spared this risk of devastation to his future.

While this military court-martial and sexual assault 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:

https://militaryadvocate.com/military-offenses/sex-crimes/

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.

https://militaryadvocate.com/

Friday, October 09, 2020

CIVILIAN COURT-MARTIAL DEFENSE LAWYER: JUNIOR ENLISTED MILITARY MEMBER REPRESENTED BY ATTORNEY RICHARD V. STEVENS HAS SEXUAL ASSAULT COURT-MARTIAL CASE DROPPED (UCMJ ARTICLE 120)

Military Defense Lawyer (Former JAG Attorney) News:

Recently, a junior enlisted military member defended by attorney Richard V. Stevens (Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens, P.C.) had the sexual assault court-martial case he faced dropped by the military after a pretrial motion hearing (UCMJ Article 120).

The military client was accused of, and investigated for, allegedly sexually assaulting his former wife. Their marriage ended badly, and the divorce was acrimonious. The complainant made a lengthy statement to military law enforcement investigators in which she claimed she was sexually assaulted on more than one occasion by the client. Charges were preferred against the client and the case proceeded past the Article 32 hearing and was referred to trial by general court-martial.

As the case proceeded toward the “felony” type military trial, the defense filed multiple motions that were heard during the pretrial motion hearing. These motions addressed the complainant’s background and issues regarding her credibility and reliability. Several of these motions were heard in closed motion hearing sessions. Shortly after the motion hearing concluded, and the case looked very different than it did during the military’s investigation, the government elected to drop the court-martial charges and sexual assault case against the client, and resolved the case with administrative action.

https://militaryadvocate.com/military-offenses/sex-crimes/

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.

https://militaryadvocate.com/

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

CIVILIAN COURT-MARTIAL DEFENSE LAWYERS: MILITARY SENIOR NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER REPRESENTED BY ATTORNEY RICHARD V. STEVENS FOUND NOT GUILTY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IN COURT-MARTIAL TRIAL (UCMJ Article 120)

Military Defense Lawyer (Former JAG Attorney) News:

Recently, a military senior noncommissioned officer (SNCO) who faced a general court-martial (GCM) in which he was accused of the sexual assault of a military friend was found not guilty of the allegation at his general court-martial trial. The accused military member was defended by military law attorney Richard V. Stevens (Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens, P.C.).

The military SNCO client was accused of sexual assault by a military acquaintance who he had a long-term casual relationship with the client that included significant sexting and a plan to have sex when they got together. They were stationed at different bases. This relationship was mischaracterized by the complainant when asked by the investigators, and they only learned of the extent of the sexual interactions when they forensically extracted the client’s phone.

Ultimately, the client and the complainant did get together at her house, they engaged in drinking, and they had sex. In the morning, after they woke up and talked about having engaged in sex the night before, the complainant admits she invited the client back into her bedroom and had sex with him a second time.

For four days after the interaction at issue, the two parties kept in touch via text, and the complainant was talking about getting together with the client again and joking about the night at issue. After the four days passed, the complainant was concerned about a woman’s health issue that arose, and she then claimed sex with the accused on the first occasion was not consensual, because she was too intoxicated to consent. She admits she had been (erroneously) trained during military sexual assault briefings that a woman cannot consent to sex after one drink.

During trial, and after a lengthy cross-examination of the complainant, the defense was able to expose numerous inconsistencies in the complainant’s story, motives to make the false allegation, and things that did not make sense about her story. The complainant claimed to have suffered a fragmentary alcohol blackout, but the defense elicited from a forensic psychology expert that such a memory impairment does not mean the person was unable to engage in knowing and purposeful behavior when the sex occurred. In addition, the defense committed the complainant to trial testimony that was refuted by other witnesses, which appeared to indicate the complainant was lying under oath at trial.

At the close of the trial, the officer and enlisted members on the panel returned a verdict of not guilty.

Had there been a conviction in the case, in addition to the federal criminal conviction and sentence, the client would have been required to register as a sex offender. Thankfully, that did not happen and the client can now continue with his military career, retire, and move into the civilian sector without such a burden hanging over his head.

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. Also, see:

http://militaryadvocate.com/military-offenses/rape-sexual-assault-sodomy/

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.

https://militaryadvocate.com/