Every single day, the team at Golden Law works with clients facing the scariest type of allegation – sexual assault in the military. Being accused of sexual assault is terrifying. We know our clients fear that these allegations could affect their careers, their families, and their futures. On top of that, military commanders are under huge pressure from Congress and our nation’s leaders to take every claim of sexual assault to a criminal trial. Even if commanders don’t believe an accusation, they may send it to trial just to say they put the case in someone else’s hands to decide. These are scary times for military members accused of sexual assault.
At Golden Law, we know exactly how to present your best defense against military sexual assault charges. And we always start with three basic strategies.
Aggressively Attack Lies and Liars
When you are facing military sexual assault charges, you want a defense counsel that will aggressively attack the lies being told about you. In many of these cases, the decision as to whether you are guilty or not guilty comes down to credibility. The prosecutors can’t win “he said, she said” cases when the jury can’t believe anything “she says.”
The key is to start by combing through the investigative file and identifying all the important facts. We dig deep to find every little inconsistency in your accuser’s story. Through an aggressive investigation, we find every way your accuser is getting it wrong. We will look at every text message, social media post, email, and statement from your accuser and identify the lies. Then, at trial, we will cross-examine your accuser and confront them about their lies. The Constitution guarantees you the right to confront the witnesses against you. You want a defense counsel that has done the work, identified the lies, and is ready to aggressively confront the liars.
But credibility isn’t just about being truthful about what happened – it’s about being a truthful person in life! If your accuser has a history of making false allegations, we will call that person out. We will identify witnesses who know the accuser’s character and who are willing to testify about their previous lies. We have had cases where the accuser’s own commander, first sergeant, supervisor, neighbor, high school teacher – or even their best friend! – has testified that the accuser is a liar. You want a defense counsel that won’t pull those punches.
Let’s be clear. People lie about things big and small. Some people are even willing to lie about something as serious as sexual assault. You want a team that will look into the motives of your accuser and find out if they have something to gain by making up lies about you. And the team at Golden Law will aggressively attack the lies and liars.
Immediately Identify Consent
Sometimes, your accuser isn’t a total liar – they’re just mistaken about what happened. Not every case requires your experienced defense counsel to call the accuser a liar. Maybe he or she just didn’t recognize all the signs of consent.
This is why you want an experienced defense counsel representing you at trial. You want a lawyer that has handled countless sexual assault cases and knows the science. You want someone that understands the signs of consent and can discuss them with the jury. You want a lawyer that can explain to the jury how someone may claim “sexual assault” when, in fact, the entire experience was consensual. That’s hard to do, especially for an inexperienced defense counsel. You want a lawyer that has had that conversation with more juries than he or she can count.
Constantly Calling Out the Lack of Evidence
Finally, to beat allegations of military sexual assault, you want a team that will constantly call out the lack of evidence. Because of the pressure that military commanders face, they often send “sexual assault” cases to trial despite a stunning lack of evidence. You want a defense counsel that knows the science and will constantly call out the lack of evidence in your case.
The burden of proof in criminal cases is high – proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It’s the highest burden of proof required by the law. But in military courtrooms across the world, individuals are convicted of sexual assault despite a stunning lack of evidence.
You want a defense counsel that will find out why the government doesn’t have things like DNA evidence connecting you to the accuser, a sexual assault forensic examination of the accuser, a drug screen of the accuser, or a blood alcohol test of the accuser. And not only do you want a defense counsel that will identify this lack of evidence, you want an experienced lawyer who can convince a jury that this stunning lack of evidence matters to your case. You don’t want to be convicted in a “he said, she said” case!
The team at Golden Law is ready to aggressively attack lies and liars, immediately identify consent, and constantly call out the lack of evidence in your case. The team at Golden Law is ready to help you present your best defense against military sexual assault charges!
