MacDill Air Force Base, Florida–Tremendous wins often start from the saddest of circumstances, and this case is no different.
Our NCO client was juggling the life with two women, his wife and his ex-wife, and had a child with each. It got too much for his second wife, and she concocted the worst of lies against our client: resulting in the Office of Special Trial Counsel charging him with multiple allegations, including rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence against his second wife, and even domestic violence against his infant child.
He was facing life in prison plus more than 140 years on top of that. He and his family did what many servicemembers do, and went online, looking for an “experienced” military defense attorney to fight for his life. They ultimately settled on a firm and lawyer that appeared to be the right fit–the marketing team plus the “years of experience” sold them.
Unfortunately, our servicemembers need more than salesmen in slick suits with “years of experience”: they need strategic defense lawyers who know the ins and outs of prosecuting and defending serious offenses at the highest levels.
The case had fits and starts and pre-trial appellate issues. When it finally got to court the last time, the civilian defense counsel still didn’t know the facts of the case. The team had to rely on an Area Defense Counsel, who awesome as she is, only completed her first year as a defense counsel while literally in trial in this case. As the member case went on, she took a bigger and bigger role in the defense.
And on Trial Day 10–just hours after the Prosecution rested and with the client on the stand testifying–the “experienced” civilian defense counsel withdrew from representation–he had a plane to catch the following morning to be co-counsel on another case he had booked starting the following week.
That’s when I joined the team: on Trial Day 11. Things only got crazier from there. The alleged victim watched our client testify (her statutory right), and provided new evidence to the prosecution throughout his testimony. After two days of those shenanigans, the Defense then successfully won its motion to exclude her from the remainder of the proceedings.
From there, our team was able to work together to track down proof that the new evidence the alleged victim provided during the trial was manipulated by her. It turns out she lied under oath about when and where that evidence came from, and we were able to prove her manipulation of the justice system in real time to the members with expert testimony in the Defense’s case-in-chief.
On Trial Day 21, the officer and enlisted panel returned the only verdict supported by the evidence we were able to put forth, ending the nightmare scenario for our client.