This case represents a prime example of how Judge Advocates, Commanders and Convening Authorities often lack the backbone to challenge bogus claims of sexual assault and refuse to prosecute baseless allegations.
This case began with a patently false allegation. The alleged victim falsely alleged that the Sergeant had sexually assaulted him, and as a result, he became the unwilling recipient of gay anal sex. After the charges were preferred, the accused Sergeant retained Tim Bilecki, a recognized Article 120 UCMJ sexual assault lawyer, to defend him.
After charges were preferred and evidence collected, DNA was gathered and sent to the lab for testing. The lab results were astounding – the alleged victim’s semen was found in the accused anus.
The surprising DNA lab results proved that it was actually the “victim” that was the aggressor, rather someone who was drunk, passed out and had anal sex forced upon him by another man. The DNA results made it clear the “victim” had sodomized the Sergeant, who was likely the one who was drunk and victimized.
Despite the overwhelming forensic evidence that destroyed the government’s case, the “victim’s” credibility and the integrity of the government’s charging decision, the prosecutors marched blindly forward and took the case to trial.
The government denied Bilecki’s request for a defense DNA expert, even though they flew their own expert out to the trial from Georgia to try to explain the findings. Fortunately, our client had the financial resources to retain one of the nation’s leading DNA experts to assist the defense and confirm the findings.
However, instead of accepting the fact that our client was falsely accused and wrongfully charged, the prosecution changed their case theory. They now claimed that:
- The “victim” was straight, notwithstanding that he and the accused were watching gay porn together in the barracks room moments before the sex occurred.
- The alleged victim passed out on our client’s bed, drunk from consuming three beers.
- Our client was able to take off the “victim’s” pants and underwear, masturbate the alleged victim until he obtained an erection, and then place the alleged victim’s erect penis into his anus without waking the alleged victim.
- Then, remarkably, the prosecution claimed that the accused was able to continue anal sex from the above position until the alleged victim ejaculated into the accused anus, which woke the alleged victim from his three-beer drunken stupor.
The case was so ridiculous it wouldn’t pass the laugh test, but the government still went forward to trial with their theory, thinking or hoping that it would explain how the alleged victim’s semen was found in the accused’s anus.
Despite this incredulous madness, the defense was steadfast in its investigation of the “victim” and obtained forensic data from the alleged victim’s cellular phone, including quite a bit of homosexual pictures. The call record showed that he was making phone calls and texting the entire night, even after the time he claimed he was passed out drunk from three beers.
Mr. Bilecki, relentless throughout the trial, exposed both the alleged victim as a liar and the government as biased abusers of the accused’s constitutional rights for taking a case to trial that should have never seen the inside of a courtroom. The military jury saw right through the government’s case and acquitted Mr. Bilecki’s client of all charges and specifications.
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