Alcohol and Sex in the Military
Having sex while drinking is not a crime in the military, regardless of what you’ve been trained by various sexual assault response coordinators. Not having sex with individuals who are highly inebriated might be generally good advice for life, but it does not mean that it is a crime. There has been a lot of training provided in the military that is simply inaccurate. As a result, sometimes individuals make allegations of sexual assault simply because they can’t remember anything as a result of how much they drank. That does not mean that they were sexually assaulted.
There are a couple different ways alcohol and sex lead to sexual assault allegations in the military.
Too Drunk to Consent
In some cases, the prosecution alleges that the alleged victim was so intoxicated that they could not consent to the sexual act.
There have been reports throughout the military that Sexual Assault Response Coordinators, or SHARP reps, have put on trainings saying that victims can’t consent after a certain number of drinks. These claims are simply untrue.
The test is whether the alleged victim was so intoxicated that she was essentially unable to understand the nature of the sexual act. Even a highly intoxicated person may still understand what sex is and form the intent to consent or not. Just because someone does something while they were intoxicated that they wouldn’t do while sober doesn’t mean they couldn’t consent. In fact, in many cases, it’s because of the alcohol that they do consent and do something they wanted to but ordinarily would not have.
Alcohol and Reliability of Memory
On one hand, alcohol can be used to prove that an alleged victim was so intoxicated that they simply couldn’t consent, on the other, the alleged victim may have consented but simply not remembered it due to the effects of alcohol.
Alcohol has a serious impact on the reliability of memory. Alcohol can cause a total blackout, meaning that even though some one is walking and talking, the effects of the alcohol block the formation of long term memories. This can happen is bits and pieces or as big chunks of time.
When someone suffers from a blackout, they may not realize it, or fill in the missing gaps with confabulated ideas of what they think happened instead of the truth.
In so many of our cases in which there is evidence that alcohol impacted memories we see our client’s versions of events vastly differ from the accuser’s version of events. This is often because the accuser has a distorted memory about the nature of what occurred and, most importantly, the issues of consent.
When you hire us, we help ensure that the military judge instructs the jury on what the actual law is. We hold the government accountable, so they don’t try to bias the jury to believe that an individual was sexually assaulted just because of training, which wasn’t necessarily correct. We often bring in forensic toxicologists or forensic psychologists to explain the potential impacts on memory and how individuals can engage in totally consensual sexual behavior and not remember it.
What Sets Your Law Firm Apart In Defending Military Clients Accused Of Sex Offense Cases?
There is no one more experienced in sexual assault cases than Golden Law. The partners in this firm have served as special prosecutors in the Air Force and have forestalled cases in the most difficult locations all over the world, winning those cases at an extraordinary high rate. We have both the experience of prosecuting the most difficult sexual assault cases and of defending military cases across the board. We have learned to overcome all of the potential pitfalls, including multiple charges, dozens of witnesses, overwhelming evidence, and statements of clients that are considered to be confessions by the prosecutors.
When you bring us on board, you bring onboard not only people who have experience in both prosecution and defense of these sexual assault cases. You bring people who have perspective, who have seen every side and every type of sexual assault case, and who can achieve a victory for you in overwhelming circumstances. We have a willingness to stand up to the general, stand up to the military, and stand up to the prosecutors, no matter what their experience is or what their perceived accomplishments are. We’ve gone into a lot of situations where people felt that victory was impossible and achieved acquittals. We will confront whoever needs to be confronted on your behalf and that’s something that you won’t find just anywhere.
