Army Officer Accused Of Domestic Abuse, Sexual Assault, Assault Consummated by a Battery, and Conduct Unbecoming
The officer’s former wife accused him of multiple sexual assaults, domestic assault and abuse, and sexual misconduct. The investigation dragged on for more than a year. Army CID investigators collected lengthy statements from the ex-wife in which she accused the officer of numerous offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice including Article 120, Article 128, Article 133, and Article 134. Investigators also questioned numerous alleged witnesses, conducted forensic examinations of various electronic media, and interviewed women from the officer’s prior relationships. There was no corroboration for the former wife’s allegations. Most important, the former wife had serious credibility problems.
Fearing a complaint from the alleged victim, prosecutors dragged the case out while trying to convince her to agree to an alternate disposition. The accuser finally agreed, but made it very clear to the command that she expected her former husband to be separated from the Army and lose his military retirement. The command issued the officer a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR). Unfortunately, the command refused to consider significant evidence that the ex-wife was fabricating her allegations.
The command also initiated administrative separation proceedings and appointed a Board of Inquiry (BOI) to hear the case. The command also recommended that the officer receive an Other Than Honorable Discharge from the Army.
During the two-day board hearing, the prosecutors attempted to smear the officer’s reputation. However, during cross-examination we were able to establish that the witnesses had significant motives to fabricate. By exposing the bias of the government witnesses and pointing out the gross exaggerations and outright lies in the ex-wife’s allegations, we deconstructed the government’s case. We also called numerous witnesses who testified that the officer was truthful. Finally, we presented strong evidence that the officer was the victim of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his ex-wife.
Result: The Board of Inquiry found that the Officer DID NOT Commit any misconduct. The officer was retained on active duty and is less than one-year from retirement.
