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The recent US v. Sinclair verdict seems to be an anomaly.  As a Civilian Defense Counsel, I have handled an increasing number of Sexual Assault and Maltreatment cases over the past few years. The pressure from the US Congress to prosecute sexual assault cases in the US Military continues to grow and at least in the Fort Campbell Jurisdiction the pressure has grown to prosecute any and all cases.

There is a perception that the military does not prosecute sexual assault cases.  That is not what I have seen.  There are many cases where legitimate allegations of sexual assault are brought against Soldiers in the military.  The problem is that there has also developed what I call the military “sexual assault generation machine.”

The Government’s tools to prosecute sexual assault cases have grown immensely.  With the assignment of Special Victim’s Prosecutors (SVP), who are trained in specific techniques for the prosecution of sexual assault, the US Army has a focused policy of “believe the alleged victim” without question.  Once an allegation is made and charges are preferred the alleged victim is assigned her own Victim Advocate, who is all an attorney.  These Victim attorneys are then asserted in the criminal process to give the alleged victim a voice.  In addition, specially assigned JAG attorneys are appointed to conduct Article 32 hearings.  What this has created is a process by which once an allegation of sexual assault is made, the case is almost inevitably going to end in a trial.

Whether victim’s rights advocates want to hear it or not, false allegations are made.  There are plenty of men and women who are sexually assaulted and bring valid allegations against their perpetrators.  The problem is that people have any number of motivations to tell a lie.  The policy of the US Army and the military at large is to believe the victim- no matter what.  This is in direct conflict with the United States Constitution that has a fundamental and underlying premise that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty.  That presumption seems to have disappeared in the US military.

Defending against these false sexual assault allegations is both complex and time-consuming.  Defense counsel must be prepared with expert witnesses, proper discovery and relentless assault against the presumption the alleged victim must be telling the truth.  At closing argument, the SVP will almost surely be employing an argument that encompasses this presumption.