STATEMENT: Victim’s Attorney Sets Record Straight on Naval Academy Case
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2014 Contact: Brian Purchia, 202.253.(202) 253-4330, brian@protectourdefenders.com
*** STATEMENT ***
Victim’s Attorney Sets Record Straight on Naval Academy Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier today, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) sent a memo to members of the media on the ongoing sexual assault case at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Last September, the victim’s civilian attorney, Susan Burke, of Katz, Marshall & Banks LLP filed a federal lawsuit asking the court to direct the school’s superintendent, VADM. Michael Miller to recuse himself from the proceedings, alleging he has acted with bias against the victim.
Today, Attorney Susan Burke sent the following letter to Senator McCaskill’s office in response to the memo:
“It has come to my attention that you are disseminating false information about the role of the commander in the pending Naval Academy sexual assault investigation. As you likely know, I have been representing the victim for some time, and now have been joined in that effort by a team of lawyers from Arnold & Porter. The Senator has not spoken with the victim, and should not be using her tragedy as evidentiary support for the Senator’s political position on leaving power in the hands of the command. The commander here has been a significant obstacle to the pursuit of justice – indeed, to such a degree that the victim sued the commander for his misuse and abuse of power.
“Let me give you some background to permit you to understand why it is absurd to use the Naval Academy debacle as a case study for why commanders should retain power.
“After the events occurred, NCIS began to investigate without cooperation from victim or perpetrators. In Sept/Oct timeframe, as she recovered, the victim began to cooperate with law enforcement. In November 2012, despite the evidence compiled by NCIS, the commander (Superintendent) shut down the ongoing NCIS investigation of the assaults. Thus, absolutely nothing would have happened if the Superintendent had been permitted to decide the matter.
“In late 2012/early 2013, the victim sought my help. We sought for several months to persuade the Superintendent to reconsider his termination of the investigation, but he refused to meet with the victim and refused to reconsider his prior decision. It is our understanding that the Superintendent was willing to meet with representatives of the perpetrators, although we are not certain of that fact. After months of the Superintendent’s refusal to act, we brought the facts to the New York Times, who profiled the victim. The public pressure resulted in the Superintendent permitting the investigation to move forward.
“The Superintendent continued to use his power to try to protect the perpetrators and harm the victim. He was personally responsible for the abusive nature of the Article 32, which is set forth in greater detail in the attached complaint. The federal court abstained from exercising jurisdiction, and the DOD IG has refused to investigate.
“The Superintendent opted not to move forward with two of the three perpetrators, despite substantial evidence of the sexual assaults and even more overwhelming – indeed undisputed – evidence of false statements. The Superintendent commissioned one of the perpetrators as a Naval officer despite the fact that the man took the Fifth Amendment. As I trust you know (and as I know the Senator knows), it is perfectly appropriate to infer guilt from the invocation of the Fifth in civil suits. Thus, at the very least, this man should have been kept out of the Navy for making false statements to NCIS. We are fearful that the Superintendent is going to commission the second man, who also invoked the Fifth.
“Throughout the proceedings, the Superintendent has acted against the interests of the victim. His office has leaked information to the media in a concerted effort to portray her as less than credible. We believe the Superintendent’s misconduct here should be investigated by the IG and Congress, not applauded.
“Given that the Superintendent is acting against the interests of the victim here, I ask that the Senator reconsider using the victim’s tragedy in her communication strategy on why the UCMJ need not be reformed. Although reasonable minds are certainly able to differ on the best way to handle the military rape epidemic, I know the Senator would not be using this case as an example if she were fully informed about the events. Please give her my regards, and let her know that the victim is willing to meet with her if she would like to hear about the problems first-hand rather than through counsel.”
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Midshipman Jane Doe vs. Midshipman Michael H. Miller Lawsuit
https://www.protectourdefenders.com/downloads/Doe_Complaint_9_5_13.pdf
Lawsuit: Naval Academy head should excuse self from court-martial decision in sex assault case
MSNBC: Naval Academy sexual assault hearing underscores flaws in system
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/09/04/naval-academy-sexual-assault-hearing-underscores-flaws-in-system/
Washington Post: Accuser in Naval Academy rape case granted a day off from testifying
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-30/local/41606712_1_herrington-witness-stand-accuser
MSNBC: Naval Academy sex-assault accuser seeks break in testimony, citing exhaustion
San Antonio Express-News: Hagel misses important opportunity
Legislation supported to pull sex-assault cases from chain of command
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Legislation-supported-to-pull-sex-assault-cases-4742418.php
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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