On 06 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a Specialist, was acquitted by a military panel composed of officers and enlisted members of two specifications of sexual assault, in violation of Article 120, UCMJ.
On 07 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, a First Lieutenant, was acquitted by a military panel composed of officers of three specifications of abusive sexual contact, two specifications of assault consummated by a battery, one specification of communicating a threat, and one specification of indecent language, in violation of Articles 120, 128, and 134, UCMJ.
On 12 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a Staff Sergeant, was acquitted by a military panel composed of officers and enlisted members of one specification of negligent homicide in violation of Article 134, UCMJ.
On 13 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Fort Knox, Kentucky, a Sergeant First Class, was acquitted by a military panel composed of officers and enlisted members, of two specifications of sexual assault, one specification of assault consummated by a battery, and one specification of adultery, in violation of Articles 120, 128, and 134, UCMJ.
On 19 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Vicenza, Italy, a Private First Class was acquitted by a military panel composed of officers and enlisted members, of two specifications of rape, two specifications of sexual assault, one specification of aggravated assault, one specification of assault consummated by a battery, one specification of obstruction of justice, one specification of indecent language, and one specification of animal abuse, in violation of Articles 120, 128 and 134, UCMJ.
On 21 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, a Specialist, was acquitted by a military judge of one specification of attempted sexual assault and three specifications of sexual assault, in violation of Article 120, UCMJ.
Nine other Soldiers were charged with sex offenses. Eight of them were convicted of sex offenses; the ninth -- tried by a mixed panel of officers and enlisted members -- was convicted only of other offenses (AWOL). The cases are as follows:
On 01 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, SSG Luis E. Escamilla, Jr., United States Army, was convicted by a military judge, contrary to his pleas, of one specification of a failure to obey a lawful general regulation, one specification of abusive sexual contact, and one specification of assault upon a sentinel in violation of Articles 92, 120, and 128, UCMJ. The accused was acquitted of one specification of abusive sexual contact in violation of Article 120, UCMJ. The military judge sentenced the accused to be reprimanded, to be reduced to the grade of E-1, to forfeit $1,000.00 pay per month for 3 months, and to be confined for 3 months.
On 05 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Camp Humphreys, Republic of Korea, SPC Jervelous D. Drisdom, United States Army, was convicted by a military judge, pursuant to his pleas, of two specifications of sexual assault and one specification of abusive sexual contact, in violation of Article 120, UCMJ. The military judge sentenced the accused to be reduced to the grade of E-1, to be confined for 57 months, and to be discharged from the service with a dishonorable discharge. As part of an offer to plead guilty, a pretrial agreement limited confinement to 45 months.
On 06 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, PFC Timothy J. Evans, United States Army, was convicted by a military panel composed of officers and enlisted members, contrary to his pleas, of one specification of conspiracy to commit sexual assault and one specification of sexual assault, in violation of Articles 81 and 120, UCMJ. The members sentenced the accused to be reduced to the grade of E-1, to forfeit all pay and allowances, to be confined for 15 years, and to be discharged from the service with a dishonorable discharge.
On 12 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, SPC Joshua L. Isaias, United States Army, was convicted by a military judge, pursuant to his pleas, of two specifications of failure to obey a lawful order, one specification of wrongful use of a controlled substance, and two specifications of sexual assault, in violation of Articles 92, 112a, and 120, UCMJ. The military judge sentenced the accused to be reduced to the grade of E-1, to forfeit all pay and allowances, to be confined for 20 months, and to be discharged from the service with a dishonorable discharge.
On 12 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, SPC Carnell J. Lawson, United States Army, was convicted by a military judge, pursuant to his pleas, of two specifications of sexual assault in violation of Article 120, UCMJ. Contrary to his pleas, the accused was convicted of one specification of abusive sexual contact and two specifications of sexual assault, in violation of Article 120, UCMJ. The military judge sentenced the accused to be reduced to the grade of E-1, to forfeit all pay and allowances, to be confined for 8 years, and to be discharged from the service with a dishonorable discharge. As part of an offer to plead guilty, a pretrial agreement limited confinement to 72 months.
On 13 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Fort Irwin, California, SPC David Munoz, United States Army, was convicted by a military panel composed of officers and enlisted members, contrary to his pleas, of one specification of false official statement and three specifications of sexual assault, in violation of Articles 107 and 120, UCMJ. The members sentenced the accused to be reduced to the grade of E-1, to 6 forfeit all pay and allowances, to be confined for 15 years, and to be discharged from the service with a dishonorable discharge.
On 17 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Fort Bliss, Texas, SSG Michael W. Shaw, United States Army, was convicted by a military judge, pursuant to his pleas, of one specification of rape of a child and two specifications of sexual abuse of a child, in violation of Article 120b, UCMJ. The military judge sentenced the accused to be reduced to the grade of E-1, to forfeit all pay and allowances, to be confined for 24 years, and to be discharged from the service with a dishonorable discharge. As part of an offer to plead guilty, a pretrial agreement limited confinement to 84 months.
On 18 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, PVT Erick C. Black, United States Army, was convicted by a military judge, contrary to his pleas, of one specification of rape of a child and one specification of sexual abuse of a child, in violation of Article 120b, UCMJ. The accused was acquitted of one specification of sexual abuse of a child in violation of Article 120b, UCMJ. The military judge sentenced the accused to be reduced to the grade of E-1, to be confined for 12 years and 3 months, and to be discharged from the service with a dishonorable discharge.
On 19 December 2018, at a general court-martial convened at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, PVT Joseph L. Feeney-Clark, United States Army, was convicted by a military panel composed of officers and enlisted members, contrary to his pleas, of two specifications of absence without leave in violation of Article 86, UCMJ. The accused was acquitted of one specification of desertion and six specifications of sexual assault, in violation of Articles 85 and 120, UCMJ. The members sentenced the accused to be confined for 107 days and to be discharged from the service with a bad-conduct discharge.
Postscript: 5 out of the 6 straight acquittals involved sex charges, and the government's overall loss rate for sex offenses was 43% (6 out of 14). Its overall loss rate was lower: 40% (6 out of 15). The Army tried 36 cases last December, of which 14 (39%) included sex offenses. So sex cases made up a very large chunk of the total Army Trial Judiciary throughput for that month (the most recent I found online), and of those an equally large chunk cratered.
ReplyDelete