An activated Army Reservist was accused of sexual assault by three separate women stemming from his time in college while a Reservist. Because the allegations occurred while he was not on active-duty status, the military did not have jurisdiction over the offenses at a court martial. Instead, the Army allowed the state to prosecute the criminal cases, and the Army sent the case to an administrative separation board seeking an Other Than Honorable characterization of discharge. Sex assault court martial lawyer Tim Bilecki was retained for the board.
This was a tricky case because, although we did not represent the Soldier in his state court criminal case, we did not want to do anything at the administrative separation board that could jeopardize his state court trial. We worked directly with the Soldier’s civilian defense counsel in the state court case to ensure a unified strategy at the board and subsequent trial. We also sought to use the board as a means of discovery and a pseudo-deposition for the upcoming trial. At the board, Bilecki was able to cross-examine one of the alleged victims, while the other two did not cooperate or testify. The board members found no basis for the two allegations where there was no victim testimony but found a basis for the allegation where the alleged victim did testify. Ultimately, the board was troubled by conducting an administrative separation board for a case pending trial in state court and discharged the Soldier with an honorable discharge characterization.
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