Bilecki Wins Two Pretrial Motions; Sergeant Major’s Charges Dismissed and Retirement Preserved

Bilecki Wins Two Pretrial Motions; Sergeant Major’s Charges Dismissed and Retirement Preserved

November 2023

Fort Stewart, Georgia

Army Sergeant Major – E-9

Allegations: UCMJ Article 120 Abusive Sexual Contact

Facts

The government took a Sergeant Major to a referred general court-martial on two Article 120 specifications from the first night of an enlisted career counselor conference in Colorado Springs. Seven days after the defense won two key motions, the charges were withdrawn and dismissed, the GOMOR stayed out of the AMHRR, and he retired at grade.

The allegation came out of a ride across Colorado Springs after conference events on 24 August 2022. Several senior NCOs were packed into a rented SUV moving from one stop to the next. The alleged victim and our client were seated in the third row. The government's theory was that he touched her inner thigh and vulva without consent during that ride. The allegation was reported that night. By the next morning, he was told to leave the conference and return to Fort Stewart.

On paper, that gave the government what it wanted. A senior enlisted Soldier. An Article 120 case. Multiple NCO witnesses in the vehicle. A charge sheet serious enough to put retirement, rank, and reputation on the table all at once.

That is where the case sat when Tim Bilecki took it on.

Tim Bilecki challenged the Article 32 hearing before the case could proceed to trial. The hearing officer had cut off defense witness testimony from two NCOs who were in the vehicle and whose accounts mattered. We moved on the defective Article 32 and won. The military judge ordered a new Article 32 with a new hearing officer and a new round of written advice before any referral decision could stand.

The second fight was the credibility fight. We moved under M.R.E. 412 and won the right to cross-examine on the romantic relationship between the alleged victim and the reporting witness. That relationship gave the defense a concrete basis to question the witnesses’ credibility and motives.

Those two rulings changed the case.

The government would have to revisit the referral decision after a new Article 32, and the defense could question the witnesses about a relationship the judge had ruled relevant to the case. Seven days later, the case resolved. The general court-martial charges were withdrawn and dismissed. There was no NJP. No administrative separation. No demotion. The GOMOR was filed locally only, not in the AMHRR.

Result: General court-martial charges withdrawn and dismissed. GOMOR filed locally only. Retirement at grade.

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FAQ

Q: What were the two motions Bilecki won?
The first challenged the Article 32 hearing after two NCO witnesses from the vehicle were cut off. The judge ordered a new hearing with a different hearing officer and new written advice. The second obtained permission to question the complainant and reporting witness about their romantic relationship as it bore on credibility and motive.

Q: Did those rulings end the case automatically?
No. They changed what the Government would have to confront before and at trial. Seven days later, the charges were withdrawn and dismissed. The Sergeant Major received a locally filed GOMOR and retired at grade.