When you bring Golden Law on board, you know we will leave no stone unturned no matter how far back we have to reach or the lengths we have to go. We’ve achieved remarkable victories in the past year in the DC area at Quantico, the Navy Yard, and Andrews AFB. This week, our client celebrated an unbelievable victory at Joint Base Andrews when we exposed the lies of an alleged victim who almost got away with perjuring herself a second time. Fortunately, we were able to facilitate the undoing of a miscarriage of justice that had occurred.
Sexual Assault Defense Victory at Andrews AFB
Golden Law was brought in to this case at Andrews AFB in the 11th hour for a new trial after the appellate courts overturned convictions for sexual assaults of multiple alleged victims where he was sentence to 8 years confinement and a Dishonorable Discharge. Even though we were brought in to the case with less than a month before trial, we fought tirelessly to uncover vital evidence that the Government had at the time of the first trial in 2016 which demonstrated that the primary alleged victim in the case had perjured herself regarding her character.
How We Win an Air Force Sexual Assault Case
We always get requests for more information about the details of our cases, so here they are: At the first trial the prosecution and main alleged victim repeatedly declared that she had been a virgin in order to make that alleged victim seem more credible, fragile, and to aggravate the matter. We emphasize, it was both the alleged victim AND the prosecutor that engaged in this sympathy garnering rhetoric.
What our client’s previous counsel completely missed is that in her preliminary interview with law enforcement, she stated she was not a virgin. In addition, we tracked down many witnesses to speak to her promiscuous behavior prior to the allegations in this case. Now, let us be clear, in most cases, prior acts of promiscuity by an alleged victim of sexual assault are not relevant and should not be a part of the case; however, here, both the alleged victim and the prosecution tried to use the opposite to prove their case. In the law, we call that “opening the door.” And with the door that wide open, we exposed her lies.
Our message for anyone that testifies, whether that is our client, the victim of a crime, or an eye-witness, is to tell the complete truth, 100%. If you think you can lie when you’re facing our cross examination, or even bend the truth – you’ve got another thing coming. An inconvenient truth is better than a convenient lie.
Unbelievable Sexual Assault Accuser
This mountain of exculpatory evidence demonstrated that the alleged victim had no credibility and had made conscious decisions to mislead the court and the jury in this case. It is remarkably shocking that the Government would go as far as it did to misrepresent her as someone with integrity and credibility when the opposite was in fact the truth and they knew it. It is the responsibility of the prosecution to present the truth and to ensure that any exculpatory evidence is turned over to the defense.
As former special victims prosecutors, ourselves, we know that the prosecution sometimes become so self-righteous and focused on victory that they can lose sight of justice and what is required under the law. Our background as senior prosecutors helps us understand this temptation and bring to light the times when the prosecution succumbs to this temptation.
Air Force Defense Counsel Failures
We can’t figure out why the previous defense team failed so miserably in their ability to expose lies, or even be aware of material inconsistent statements that they had in their possession. We find that many of the military defense counsel work very hard for their clients, but are often overworked and unmotivated. Others know that the harder they fight and the bigger their wins are can negatively impact their reputation among senior JAG leaders who value commitment to the Government’s position. Some others believe they are the ones to judge and reach their own decisions on their clients’ guilt and prepare their defense according to their own notions of justice.
In this case, we know the Air Force defense counsel from the first case, and know them to be hard-working advocates for their clients even though they wear the uniform. Mistakes happen, especially with inexperience and complex cases. Here, we know these prior counsel understand the mistakes made, and they worked along side of our investigation to correct the errors made! We have seen way too many military defense counsel become indignant and defensive when it’s pointed out that their mistakes led an innocent man to jail. Here, we thank those prior counsel for their hard work and dedication to helping bring justice to this young airman.
The Best Preparation for Air Force Sexual Assault Cases
In our investigation of this case on Joint Base Andrews and Bolling, we left no stone unturned and uncovered evidence that had not been brought to light in the first trial. In pretrial motions, we argued that the case should be dismissed because of her perjury and the fact that the Government had knowingly allowed her to perjure herself in the first trial. The Government’s attempts to paint her as an innocent victim had succeeded in the first trial but would not the second time around. The Government simply could not explain how this miscarriage of justice had occurred.
On the eve of trial, because of the pressure brought to bear because of our unveiling of the truth of what she had done, the alleged victim dropped out and refused to participate for fear of being confronted with her lies on the stand. She did not want to be held accountable for her words in open court. The second accuser dropped out the next day and all charges were dismissed. It became clear that the second accuser was participating only because she thought the first accuser had been wronged and she knew her testimony would help the case.
Military Sexual Assault Re-Trial Victory
Our client who had spent 2.5 years in jail was allowed to go home — finally — and is receiving 2.5 years in backpay. Unfortunately, our client can’t get back 2.5 years of his life that he spent rotting in a cell. He can move forward and be better for what he overcame, but he won’t get to be there for all the significant moments in his family’s life that he missed.
Our battle to correct this injustice does not stop here and will continue on in federal court. But it was our knowledge of the landscape, the relationships we have with important players at Joint Base Andrews as well as AFDW, and our commitment to investigating this case to the best our ability on our old stomping grounds at Joint Base Andrews and Bolling that exposed the lies of this accuser and resulted in the truth being brought to the surface after so long.
Air Force Civilian Defense Attorneys
If you want to ensure that your case is investigated from every angle and no possible defense is ignored, you need to retain Golden Law onto your case. We will ensure that you can rest easy that we aren’t taking any shortcuts or resting on our laurels. We are diligent in defending cases from coast-to-coast, Europe, Asia, and anywhere else our servicemembers need our help. This week, that diligence and competence is what ensured that another miscarriage of justice did not occur. Every case is unique and results are never guaranteed, but our commitment to zealous representation is 100%.
