STATEMENT: Protect Our Defenders Responds to Plea Agreement, Dropped Sexual Assault Charges in Case Against Brigadier General
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2014 Contact: Brian Purchia, Brian@protectourdefenders.com
*** STATEMENT ***
PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS RESPONDS TO PLEA AGREEMENT, DROPPED SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGES IN CASE AGAINST BRIGADIER GENERAL
Washington DC – Today, a military judge accepted guilty pleas from Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair for disobeying a commander’s order, misuse of his government charge card, and mistreatment of his former mistress, who was also a captain in the Army.
In exchange for pleading guilty to these reduced charges, military prosecutors agreed to drop sexual assault charges against Brig. Gen Sinclair, which could have carried a life sentence if convicted.
Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish released the following statement:
“The Sinclair case is one more, very stark, example of why independent military prosecutors should be in charge of deciding whether to go forward with cases. Both the victim and the accused deserve to receive professional and unbiased justice. Commanders are inherently conflicted and too often biased in the outcome. Whether they are biased in favor of the victim or the accused does not matter. Service members deserve blind justice equal to the system afforded to the civilians they protect.
“It has been well documented, long known within the military that General Sinclair conducted himself in outrageous and inappropriate, even unlawful ways. His behavior was not addressed until this victim came forward. The trial is the only reason his abusive behavior came to public attention and the military was forced to address the problem.
“When confronted about some of his actions he has been quoted as saying, ‘I’m a general, I’ll do whatever the (expletive) I want.’ And it has been charged he has threatened the families of officers who questioned his behavior for years according to news stories.”
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New York Times: Judge Accepts General’s Plea Deal in Sexual Assault Case
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/us/sinclair-court-martial-plea-deal.html?hpw&rref=us
New York Times: Army General Reaches Deal on Sex Counts
Miami Herald: A step forward on sexual assault
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/16/3998928/a-step-forward-on-sexual-assault.html
New York Daily News: Sexual assaults and American betrayal
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/sexual-assaults-american-betrayal-article-1.1721007
New York Times: How a Military Sexual Assault Case Foundered
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/us/how-a-military-sexual-assault-case-foundered.html
Bloomberg: General Sinclair, Sexual Assault and Military Justice
About Protect Our Defenders: Protect Our Defenders is a human rights organization. We seek to honor, support and give voice to the brave women and men in uniform who have been sexually assaulted while serving their country, and re-victimized by the military adjudication system – a system that often blames the victim and fails to prosecute the perpetrator. Learn more about Protect Our Defenders at www.protectourdefenders.com or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ProtectOurDefenders or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ProtectRDfnders.
Protect Our Defenders partners with Attorney Susan Burke, of Katz, Marshall & Banks LLP to advance lawsuits filed against the DoD and service academies for repeatedly ignoring rape, sexual assault and harassment, failing to prosecute perpetrators and retaliating against the victim.
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