A Navy Sailor was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and rape following an altercation with his girlfriend. The charges included allegations that he punched, strangled, and smothered his girlfriend before slamming her head into the floor until she lost consciousness. The girlfriend then claimed that the Sailor raped her while she was unconscious. During the incident, the girlfriend managed to call a friend’s voicemail, which captured the audio of the Sailor yelling and making threats, as well as the sound of a physical altercation. There was also significant DNA and other forensic evidence collected by NCIS, as well as witnesses who heard the physical altercation. After being charged by the Navy and while awaiting a court-martial, the Sailor was involved in a second altercation with a different girlfriend, which led to additional charges of aggravated assault. The Sailor was facing the possibility of life imprisonment and a sex offender registration. Prior to JAG Defense involvement, the most favorable pretrial offer from the prosecution was that the Sailor had to plead guilty to all charges in order to receive a confinement cap of 12 years. The Sailor’s family hired JAG Defense to represent him at his court-martial. Over a period of months, JAG Defense negotiated an initial pretrial deal where the government agreed to dismiss the attempted murder charge and all but one assault charge for each victim. The government intended to attempt to prove the rape charge. During the course of our preparation to contest the rape charge, JAG Defense uncovered DNA evidence that was extremely damaging to the government’s case and definitively proved that the victim had lied about the sexual assault. As a result, the government dismissed the rape charge the night before the Sailor’s court-martial was to begin. Result: Attempted Murder and Rape Charges Dismissed. Client guilty only of lesser assault charges and will be released from confinement in less than a year. No sex offender registration.
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