Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina–In the military, a common theme of couples on the rocks is allegations of serious criminal misconduct. Especially for active-duty service members, spouses understand how easy it is to make allegations, how serious the military treats these cases now, and the career-ending implications they can have with just their words. This case was no different.
Often, detailed military counsel (regardless of the service) go with the ol’ remain-silent-and-do-nothing approach. Many former JAGs turned civilian counsel with “decades of experience” offer the same, except with a hefty pricetag. Veritas Military Law is different. Sometimes, sitting on your hands is the right answer. Many times, it is not.
Mr. Tolin dove into the facts and allegations of this case, and with the client facing decades behind bars for the allegations, he worked with detailed counsel to counter-investigate and find out the real facts. As it turns out, an “alleged witness” who had provided testimony against the client had been attempting to correct false statements made to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), but it seemed the Government was not interested. So Veritas Military Law got the truth recorded in a declaration made under the penalty of perjury.
Armed with the facts from that “witness” (and what he knew from the client–and yes–a military defense lawyer should ask the client what really happened), Mr. Tolin interviewed the alleged victim–before the Defense had ever seen an OSI report of investigation.
That work paid off, and the alleged victim ultimately made clear what had really happened: her anger clouded the truth. Mr. Tolin then got that exculpatory evidence under the penalty of perjury, then in an affidavit, which resulted in the locals dropping their case and the Air Force Office of Special Trial Counsel (OSTC) deferring the rape and domestic violence allegations. (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 those allegations.)