Sexual Assault Crimes on the Rise

The military has seen a sharp spike in sexual assault prosecutions over the years. Many of these are he said/she said cases, which arise after a night of heavy drinking. Some involve minors. But all of them are being much more aggressively prosecuted than previously.  Congress has gotten involved, and there has even been a movie which alleges that the military is less active in prosecuting sexual assault allegations.  I have found the opposite to be true.  In many cases the military prosecutes cases that the civilian courts won’t prosecute because of a lack of evidence and a lack of resources.  But in an attempt to appear “tough on crime” the military still prosecutes them. I recently had a case where the state wouldn’t touch it, because the alleged victim literally said she was not raped.  But that didn’t stop the military from prosecuting it.  By aggressively representing our client, we got the charges dismissed after the Article 32 (b) Investigation.

Unlike their civilian counterparts, the military has seemingly unlimited resources available to them to prosecute sexual assault allegations. It is not uncommon for the military to have 4 or 5 prosecutors or investigators working on a case, while you have only your assigned military defense counsel.  That counsel frequently has numerous other responsibilities to deal with.  As a result, they are frequently overworked and over matched.  The prosecutors will stop at nothing to make sure you go to jail for the longest time possible and get kicked out of the military. They will employ numerous experts and investigators at government expense.  You have to rely on your defense team or hire an independent investigator.  And if you request an expert at government expense, the prosecutor and Staff Judge Advocate almost always recommend that the Convening Authority disapprove that request, or accept some lesser alternative. Then you have to petition the Military Judge to force the government to pay for your expert.

I have handled numerous complex sexual assault allegations. I have expert witnesses I have used in the past and been successful in getting the government to pay for. But having done several of these cases, I speak the language of the government’s experts.  So even without an expert we are ready to go to trial.

If you need a court-martial attorney, contact me for a free consultation.