OPINION:
So the male football player found not guilty of rape at a court martial will nonetheless be dismissed from the U.S. Naval Academy for having lied to investigators about the very charge of which he was ultimately found not guilty (“As military sex cases end, more calls for change,” Web, March 21). Meanwhile his accuser — whose name is being withheld “as a matter of newspaper policy” — will be allowed to continue at the academy and will likely become a Naval officer despite the fact she apparently has a severe drinking problem and very questionable morals.
Let us remember that she intentionally got herself drunk before even going to the party at an off-campus, football-team-hosted party. She did her pre-party drinking both underage and on the Naval Academy campus, both illegal activities. She was of course given immunity from prosecution for these actions.
As to the supposed sex-victim advocates and news media who think the accused and the two other football players against whom charges were dropped did not get their just deserts under the allegedly corrupt military legal system, I ask this: Why are you not demanding the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess bring rape charges against the three players? The party at the heart of the rape case took place in Anne Arundel County, and Maryland as a separate sovereign can prosecute; this would not constitute double jeopardy. Why not let county politicians teach the military how to ’properly’ prosecute sex crimes?
The reason there is no demand to do this is that these ’advocates’ are only interested in making the military look bad. Also civilian prosecutors don’t like to lose at trial, as they surely would in this case.
WAYNE L. JOHNSON
Judge Advocate General’s Corps, U.S. Navy (retired)
Alexandria
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