Joint Base San Antonio, Texas–Being investigated by Air Force Office of Special Investigation (AFOSI) is a terrible way for servicemembers to start their career. But even for men and women of character, consensual interactions can result in your life being turned upside down and inside out.
Here, a consensual tech school relationship a year later turned into a false allegation of sexual assault. Veritas Military Law jumped in to help a young guardsman well known for his good behavior but who found himself in trouble.
Mr. Tolin immediately dove into the evidence to ensure the truth would prevail. And it did, initially. The Special Trial Counsel on the case recognized during early coordination with Mr. Tolin that a general court-martial was not appropriate, given the contradictory details by the alleged victim, the Guardsman’s recorded response when OSI tried to trick him into confessing to her, and his waiver of rigts and clear explanation of the real facts.
So, OSTC deferred the sexual assault allegation. (Following the major changes to the UCMJ, a “deferral” by OSTC is a binding decision that means the military is not charging the alleged offender for that allegation.) That deferral allows the prosecutors to focus on real criminals and the mission to move forward, focussed on what matters.
But an OSTC decision is not the end of the terror for people falsely accused of these crimes. Even after a deferral, the case goes to command. And in many cases, commanders (with a push from their JAGs) see an alleged sexual assaulter as a stain on the service, so they serve administrative action with an eye towards discharge.
That’s where this case was. Because this was a guardsman who was on active-duty orders for training when the allegations arose, an active-duty commander who didn’t know this young man took the advice of his counsel and served a command-level letter of reprimand for sexual assault. But Veritas Military Law’s counter-offensive did its job. By focussing on a defense as early as possible, Mr. Tolin was able to quickly determine that the alleged victim didn’t just lie about the allegation, she also hid evidence of the truth.
With that ammunition, Mr. Tolin advocated for this Texas Guardsman that the LOR should be withdrawn, providing evidence the alleged victim hid the truth to spin a story. And even though it wasn’t his actual command, the commander recognized the truth and withdrew the action. This member now gets to get back to living his life and continuing to serve.