CBS News: The military is failing to comply with federal law in sexual assault cases, new watchdog report finds

11/8/2021

The military is failing to comply with federal law in sexual assault cases, new watchdog report finds

"In many of the cases, 'the assigned prosecutor was an inexperienced, junior prosecutor without specialized training in special victim cases,' according to the report, which is expected to be released publicly this week after review by the branches of the military. That failure to assign specially trained prosecutors meant investigators and commanders 'may not have received the best legal advice with respect to critical investigative steps and case adjudication decisions,' the report adds.

The Air Force fared the worst: 94% of survivors were represented by prosecutors not trained to handle sexual assault and domestic violence cases. The Army and Navy both failed to provide prosecutors who were adequately trained in 59% of cases; the Marine Corps fell short of the requirement 30% of the time."

Brian L. Cox link

11/9/2021 08:43:20 am

How far do we need to stretch to extend this news report a modicum of credibility? Actually, 100% of military victims/survivors are not "represented by prosecutors not trained to handle sexual assault and domestic violence case." Anyone in our community ever hear of a survivor being represented by a prosecutor?

Let's hope the official IG report fares better on the law than CBS News does. Hard to tell since it doesn't appear that the official report has been made available to the public. Any indication how it is that CBS News managed to get their hands on an advance copy (it would appear) before the rest of the public has access?

Concerned Citizen

11/9/2021 08:51:17 am

I see that the report isn't publicly available (curious how the news media got it), but I am curious as to how they define having a "specially trained prosecutor" "assigned" . Seems like a lot of OSJAs I have come across or heard about have a policy of requiring an SVP to review any of these cases. Do they mean that they are required to do every step and a trial counsel/military justice advisor can't help out at all?

Nathan Freeburg

11/9/2021 09:22:56 am

I’m loathe to defend the services but this reporting is clearly based on a muddle. Just because the SVP/CTC or what have you isn’t formally detailed to the case until trial doesn’t mean that they weren’t involved all along. Ultimately, the services are going to have to establish pure MJ career tracks in order to provide the experience levels Congress wants. This will be more of an issue for some services than others.

Donald G Rehkopf, Jr.

11/9/2021 09:45:55 am

Not to stir the proverbial pot here, because I agree with the above commentators, but I wonder how old the data is? Since the SVC program ramped up, anecdotally, I've seen SVC's far more experienced than many (but certainly not all) TC's. And then again, toss in the inexperience level of the military DC's . . . .

Lone Bear

11/9/2021 10:13:27 pm

There is a policy decision made by some services to put the more experienced litigators in VLC billets than in TC billets.

Rory Fowler link

11/9/2021 12:20:21 pm

No one should go through trials and tribulations alone. So it's nice to see that Canada's "Battle Buddy" to the south is experiencing similar misleading and inflammatory reporting on these issues, that we have seen in Canada. We're here for you. That likely won't help much, but at least you won't have to go through this alone.

Concerned VLC

11/9/2021 01:12:02 pm

While I don’t care to delve into definitions, the accuracy of a prosecutor representing a victim, or the true level of involvement of an SVIP qualified TC, the problem begins in the investigation.

First, collateral misconduct situations (underage drinking, frat, being in prohibited locations) needs to be scrutinized for possible sexual assault to avoid creating prior inconsistent victim statements to non-sex assault trained investigators. Second, SVIP qualified TCs need to be involved in the case investigation from day 1. Third, VLCs should be given the full ROI prior to RLSO making a recommendation to the Convening Authority.

This will, hopefully, ensure that all leads get followed, all theories get developed, and a victim is given the best chance at some type of resolution in a system made to suppress dissent (victim’s voices) and promote military efficiency (speedy investigation and resolution, protection of the shit hot sailor (who just happens sexually assault men, women, or children).

I think we truly need to internalize the zero tolerance policy and root out sexual assault in our military. This is a place of work. People should not have to worry about the enemy lurking within the ranks. It’s detrimental to good order and discipline and anyone who doesn’t fully believe in victim’s rights and that sexual assault has no place in our services has no right to be in the military.

Re collateral misconduct, see DoD has issued a Safe to Report Policy, dated October 25, 2021 that restricts commanders in their ability to discipline victims for “minor” offenses collateral to being sexually assaulted.

Also concerned

11/9/2021 02:37:26 pm

While I’m sure this is well intended, I don’t follow the logic.

You suggest “collateral misconduct situations (underage drinking, frat, being in prohibited locations) needs to be scrutinized for possible sexual assault to avoid creating prior inconsistent victim statements to non-sex assault trained investigators.” I’m not sure I get what you’re saying. Are you suggesting not ignore into those issues? That would seem to run afoul of your stated goal of ensuring “all leads get followed, all theories get developed.” Or is the primary objective simply to secure convictions? As unsavory as it sounds, people do sometimes lie to get out of trouble. Sometimes there are real motives to fabricate allegations. Sometimes, people even falsely accuse other people of crimes — even sexual assault. The advantage of having specially trained prosecutors and investigators should be having an advanced level of understanding and experience dealing with bad facts, not ignoring them. Bad facts are not always fatal blows to a prosecution. But ignoring evidence is questionable at best, more akin to malpractice.

And why on earth would you give the victim the report of investigation at any point prior to the conclusion of the trial? I’ve both prosecuted and defended numerous sex cases. Never once have I seen a case where the victim reviewing investigation reports was a good thing.

11/9/2021 05:07:03 pm

I think it was sarcasm.

11/9/2021 10:11:18 pm

Don’t know that sharing a full ROI with a witness’s attorney is a good idea, even if it’s the victim. Not sure what that accomplishes other than a fertile ground for cross examination and a chance for some witnesses to alter their statements to fit the evidence.

I don’t think victims should be subject to multiple interviews, but more because it’s tough on them. If a witness makes inconsistent statements during different interviews, that’s probably something that members should see in making their decision. Inconsistent statements are a sign that a witness is confused or dishonest.

11/9/2021 01:52:10 pm

How is the Military Justice system set up to "suppress dissent"?

Brenner M. Fissell

11/9/2021 01:58:44 pm

You tell us. You're the one afraid to use your real name on a blog.

Anonymous

11/9/2021 10:02:49 pm

Brenner,

So good, nice point.

Anon

11/10/2021 06:16:09 am

The commenter eferenced "victims voices" as being specifically what they meant by suppressing dissent. Just curious what they meant by that. As a general proposition, sure, seems like what you would expect in any hierarchical, authoritarian organization overseen by politicians.

Brenner

11/10/2021 09:32:04 am

@CC—sounds about right. And for that reason we are fine with anonymous comments.

Poster

11/10/2021 02:27:37 pm

So, what do we do about the suppression of dissent?

Make it prettier, I imagine.

Comments are closed.

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CBS News: The military is failing to comply with federal law in sexual assault cases, new watchdog report finds

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