By the time a service member has achieved the hallowed rank of E-9, you can be damn well sure that he or she knows a thing or two because they have seen a thing or two. Yet, even decades of experience couldn’t prepare an Army Command Sergeant Major (CSM) for being accused of sexual assault near the end of his long and storied career. Considering that the sexual assault charges stemmed from him enforcing military decorum at a funeral service, to have lost this case would have been one of the greater tragedies in military legal history. Thankfully for the CSM, he retained a noted Article 120 UCMJ sexual assault defense lawyer, Tim Bilecki, and Bilecki was more than up for the task.
In fact, Bilecki was able to end the ordeal through rebuttal matters, which meant that charges were never even preferred against the CSM. First was the matter of the bogus sexual assault that never should have seen the light of day. It was clear that the accusation had been exaggerated and potentially even weaponized by the accuser. Keep in mind that while sexual assaults do occur in the military, they just don’t occur in the middle of a funeral service when the Commanding Sergeant Major is ripping you a new one for lack of decorum.
The charge was later downgraded to assault, which was still egregious nonsense but nothing the team at Bilecki couldn’t handle. Through the crafting of significant rebuttal matters, we were able to demonstrate that the allegations against the CSM did not warrant further action. As a veteran leader, the CSM acted well within his leadership toolbox, and let’s be honest, if a CSM is not enforcing military decorum, something would be wrong with that picture.
The defense then highlighted the CSM’s long and unblemished military career and track record. This just isn’t the type of guy who is going to put decades into military service only to sexually assault someone at a funeral. The Commander was able to see this clear as day after Bilecki’s rebuttal and to be honest, the Command seemed a little embarrassed that the case and allegations had made it as far as they did.
This is all because the CSM knew to retain proper legal counsel, and that might have been the greatest decision of his entire career. To consider losing it all, which includes career, reputation, and retirement benefits at the very end, would have been a damn Greek tragedy. The CSM had too much to lose to risk it to free JAG’s defense counsel, and he knew better than to plead guilty. He fought back, and he won with his career and reputation intact.
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