Andersen Air Force Base, Guam–After COVID continued trial the first go around, Mr. Tolin led an 8-person team to the full acquittal of an Air Force E-4 whose promotion to E-5 was placed on hold once the alleged victim made a report of sexual assault.
The case started as a standard Department of Defense sexual assault claim, where two service members meet up at a party (drinking alcohol), hit it off, then agree to continue socializing well into the early morning hours at the other’s apartment, followed by admittedly consensual sexual activity.
Fast forward one day, and now daylight brings out allegations of sexual assault having occurred after the consensual sexual activity. . . .
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Fast forward many months, where the client facing general court-martial and 74 years of confinement offered numerous plea agreements just to minimize risk to his family. With the help of numerous experts, Area Defense Counsel, and a couple of defense paralegals, Mr. Tolin pushed and pushed until the Defense was able to force the Prosecution to find text messages the alleged victim provided to Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) initially and lost–to the point OSI claimed they never actually had them. It wasn’t until Mr. Tolin moved to strike her testimony under R.C.M. 914 during trial that broke the logjam.
That happened in the middle of the cross-examination of the complaining witness, leading to the uncovering of multiple other witnesses, who ultimately testified to prove the complaining witness was actively obstructing justice by contacting witnesses while in the middle of her testimony. Once the Defense uncovered those facts, the complaining witness tried to cover her tracks by deleting damaging Snapchat messages, then lying to the military judge about doing so.
The work of Mr. Tolin and his team changed this case from a potential felony-level conviction being prosecuted by the Chief District Special Trial Counsel to the defense closing argument basically being a prosecution of the complaining witness for bringing false allegations, obstructing justice in trial, and committing perjury. The courtroom was full, and it was a sight to see.
The military judge returned a full acquittal, and the exonerrated client was able to promote and serve out his assignment on the island as an NCO.