I already told you sick I was of the sex s***, and nothing has changed.
"Army general gives apology to sex misconduct victims" by Richard A. Oppel Jr. | New York Times March 20, 2014
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Brigadier General Jeffrey A. Sinclair offered his first apology to the victims of his sexual misconduct and to the Army on Wednesday afternoon, tearfully saying that he “felt a deep and abiding sense of shame and remorse.”
“I have squandered a fortune of life’s blessings, blessings of family, work, and friendship,” Sinclair said, reading a 366-word statement inside a military courtroom at Fort Bragg before a judge who was expected to begin deciding his sentence by the end of the day.
“I put myself and the Army in this position with my selfish, self-destructive, and hurtful acts,” the general said. “Words cannot express how sorry I am that I created this situation and put so many individuals in harm’s way. I want to take this opportunity to apologize to my family, to the Army, and to all the soldiers I have disappointed.”
He then apologized by name to four female junior officers who were on the receiving end of what he has admitted to be inappropriate behavior or advances. One of the women, who was not in the courtroom, is a 34-year-old Army captain who was his mistress for three years, and who later accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex on him and threatening to kill her and her family if she ever revealed their affair.
The general also begged the military judge not to strip him of his pension and other benefits earned over a 27-year military career, in which he rose to be deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne Division.
“I ask that you permit me to retire at a reduced rank and not punish my family by depriving them of the benefits they have earned serving alongside me all these years,” he said.
His statement, made before the stone-faced judge, Colonel James L. Pohl, came before he was to begin weighing punishment for the general after his guilty pleas to charges including adultery, soliciting explicit pictures from female soldiers, and mistreating the captain....
Had he been convicted of sexual assault, the general faced the possibility of life in prison and permanent registration as a sex offender; now he is expected to receive a much shorter sentence, the length of which is capped under a deal between his lawyers and prosecutors.
The general’s statement was a stark contrast to his defense team’s aggressive, but successful, strategy. Just Wednesday morning, his lead lawyer, Richard L. Scheff, told reporters that the most serious part of the case “had been built on lies.”
The case began to unravel for the prosecution after military lawyers concluded that the general’s mistress, the only person to accuse him of sexual assault, might have testified untruthfully under oath at a hearing in January.
Related:
"The Army’s case against Sinclair started to crumble as questions arose about whether his primary accuser had lied in a pre-trial hearing. It was further thrown into jeopardy last week when Judge Colonel James Pohl said the military might have improperly pressed ahead with the trial to send a message about curbing rape."
Interesting change in choice of words. I guess there are some people who are liars, some who simply tell untruths, and others that simply tell inaccurate promises. I guess the Globe doesn't like marijuana, either.
In the course of his three-day sentencing hearing, Sinclair appeared to lose his composure twice: first, when he read a statement describing in detail how he had lied to, and led on, his mistress for more than a year, and then when he put his head in his hands and wiped his eyes as one of his lawyers read a statement from his wife in which she described being “on the road to forgiveness, but not fully there” about her husband’s infidelity....
--more--"
"General gets reprimand, no jail time, for sex misconduct; Critics angry; one says system is ‘truly broken’" by Richard A. Oppel Jr. | New York Times March 21, 2014
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Bringing to an end the most closely watched sexual misconduct trial in the military, a judge on Thursday reprimanded Brigadier General Jeffrey A. Sinclair for mistreating an Army captain who was his mistress, among other offenses, but did not sentence him to jail time and allowed him to remain in the military.
Sinclair was also ordered to forfeit $5,000 a month in pay for four months but will be allowed to keep his pension and other benefits.
The decision by the judge, Colonel James L. Pohl, was a big victory for the defense....
Sinclair, 51, hugged his lawyers after the judge made his ruling from the bench. Though clearly elated, the general said little as he left the courthouse, describing the past two years as “a very difficult time for me and my family.”
“The system worked,” he said, adding that he was going to go “hug my kids and see my wife.”
The sentence was far less than what the general faced when the case began two years ago: a possible life sentence and registration as a sex offender if he was convicted on charges that he sexually assaulted the captain, 34, who had been his lover for three years.
Critics of the way the Pentagon handles sexual assault cases said Sinclair should have received a much tougher sentence.
“This is another sordid example of how truly broken the military justice system is,” Representative Jackie Speier, Democrat of California, said in a statement. “This sentence is a mockery of military justice, a slap on the wrist nowhere close to being proportional to Sinclair’s offenses.”
The sentencing concluded a case that was viewed by many as embodying rampant sexual misconduct in the military, even at senior ranks, and it fueled demands by Congress that the Pentagon crack down on the problem.
But the prosecution’s case started coming apart after military lawyers concluded that their chief witness, the captain, may have lied at a hearing in January. It collapsed last week when Pohl found that political considerations may have improperly influenced the prosecution....
From the start, the case was a public relations disaster for the Army, and over time it became a legal nightmare for the prosecution.
Initially, it seemed an abject example of how far the military, focused for a decade on two wars, had fallen behind other institutions in accepting women as equals in the workplace, providing ammunition to critics who believed that a Mad Men-era ethos still pervaded the service, with some male officers struggling to view female counterparts as anything more than sexual objects.
By the end, critics of the military justice system contend, the case also came to demonstrate how the system — which attempts to uphold the ability of commanders to be the ultimate arbiters of discipline in their units — could be influenced by political considerations....
--more--"
Also see: Military sex-assault case shows need for far-reaching reforms
Sorry, but I've already seen more than enough.
"Woman in Naval Academy sex assault case testifies" by Jessica Gresko | Associated Press March 20, 2014
WASHINGTON— A military judge is keeping the sexual assault case against a former Naval Academy football player alive following a motion by his lawyers that could have ended the trial.
After prosecutors finished their case Wednesday against Joshua Tate of Nashville, Tenn., Tate’s lawyers asked the judge to find their client not guilty.
Tate’s lawyers argued prosecutors did not put forward evidence needed to support a conviction. The judge denied the motion and allowed the case to continue. Closing arguments are expected Thursday.
Tate is accused of sexually assaulting a classmate at an off-campus party in 2012. Prosecutors argue the woman was too drunk to consent to sex.
The defense argues that he had consensual sex with the woman. Tate is charged with aggravated sexual assault and lying to investigators. The court-martial is being closely watched as the military tries to improve the way it handles sexual assault cases.
One of Tate’s lawyers, Jason Ehrenberg, asked the woman why she tried to frustrate investigators’ efforts to learn what happened.
The woman said she went to the captain of the football team to ask for his help in squashing rumors that she had sex with multiple people at the party.
One of Tate’s lawyers played a recorded call between Tate and the woman in which she suggested he lie to police about what happened.
The alleged victim said she started cooperating with investigators after she found a mentor and realized she needed to stand up for herself. She spent five hours testifying over two days.
Prosecutors have described the woman as so drunk she blacked out, walking and talking but not remembering what was going on.
--more--"
"Judge acquits Naval Academy midshipman" Associated Press March 21, 2014
WASHINGTON — A former US Naval Academy football player was acquitted Thursday of sexually assaulting a classmate at a party, bringing to conclusion a case that began almost two years ago and drew wide attention at a time when the military is under scrutiny for how it handles sexual assault cases.
The judge, Colonel Daniel Daugherty, acquitted Joshua Tate of Nashville, of one count of aggravated sexual assault. During the trial, prosecutors argued that the woman Tate was accused of assaulting was too drunk to consent to sexual activity. But Tate’s attorneys disagreed, arguing the woman was in control of her body and making decisions for herself.
The judge said Thursday in announcing his decision that the facts of the case ‘‘present difficult and complex questions.’’ And he said that the vast majority of testimony at the three-day trial, testimony by midshipmen who attended the party where the alleged assault occurred, was shaded by alcohol consumption and the passing of time.
But the judge concluded prosecutors had not proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt, the standard required for conviction.
Tate’s case was being closely watched as the military tries to improve the way it handles sexual assaults. A Pentagon report released last year estimated that up to 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted in the prior year and that thousands of victims are unwilling to come forward out of fear their careers might be derailed.
--more--"
Related: Sexual Assaults In The Military Are At An All-Time High And Most Of Them Are Male On Male
And my pro-gay agenda-pushing paper is focusing exclusively on the heterosexual incidents?
"Mitch Libman was surprised when his childhood friend, Private First Class Leonard Kravitz, the uncle of singer and actor Lenny Kravitz, was not selected for the Medal of Honor. Libman was angry enough to petition members of Congress. The efforts led Congress to require the Army, Air Force, and Navy to review the records of Jewish and Hispanic service members who had received the Distinguished Service Cross for their heroics in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The congressional measure requiring the investigation, the Leonard Kravitz Jewish War Veterans Act of 2001."
Also see:
Medal of Honor: Overdue awards for valor
This Post a Purge
All empty now.
