Sexual Offenses

Sexual Offenses

Jury Verdict of NOT GUILTY of Sexual Assault

Navy E-5 faced a General Court-Martial on charges of Sexual Assault (digital penetration without consent and/or while alleged victim unable to consent due to being incapacitated by alcohol) as well as assault/battery (undressing alleged victim without her consent). Client was interrogated by NCIS - prosecution played a video recording of the interrogation where client admitted that the alleged victim was intoxicated, was "stumbling" and was having a hard time walking immediately prior to him engaging in sexual activity with her. Other witnesses confirmed she had a significant amount of tequila to drink (approximately 1/2 of a 750ml bottle). After extensive cross examination of the alleged victim, where significant damage was done to her "story"- and without putting on any evidence in our defense case, we secured a verdict of NOT GUILTY of ALL CHARGES.

Judge-Alone Verdict of NOT GUILTY in Child Sexual Assault Case 
Our client was charged with sexually assaulting his brother's 12 year old daughter. At trial by judge alone, after extensive cross examination of the girl, and her mother, we rested our case without presenting any evidence. The judge, without deliberating, immediately found our client NOT GUILTY.

Rape of a Minor - ACQUITTED 
A sailor was charged by the military with raping a fourteen-year-old with a couple of his friends. The girl named our client as the rapist, and after hours of interrogation by investigators our client signed a sworn statement wherein he admitted to being the rapist. At trial we were able to convince a jury that his confession was not reliable and that the girl misidentified the client. He was ACQUITTED of all charges.

Petty Officer Charge with Raping Sailor on Ship – JURY VERDICT OF NOT GUILTY Our client and a female sailor came on board the ship from a liberty port visit – both had been drinking expensively. The female alleged that our client took her to a small room on the ship where he violently raped her. When investigators conducted a forensic inspection of the room, they not only found our client’s belt in the room, but also significant bodily fluids, identified as coming from our client. A central issue in the case was the level of intoxication of the female at the time of the sexual activity in the room. Extensive cross examination of the Government forensic toxicologist as well as the alleged victim triggered the jury members to ask several questions which from Mr. McCormack’s perspective reflected significant doubt in the minds of 3 members of the jury at that point. The decision was made that our client would not testify and we then rested our case. The jury returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY

Several Felony Sex Offenses – NO SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Our client was charged with several felony sexual offenses in Isle of Wight County. During preparations for a contested jury trial, we received discovery which indicated that both our client's as well as the alleged victim's DNA was likely on an item recovered from our client's home – evidence that would have been difficult to explain at trial. Upon instituting plea negotiations with the prosecutor, it was made immediately clear that the Commonwealth Attorney's Office was looking to convict on a felony offense which required lifetime registration as a sex offender. After conveying to the prosecutor that we were prepared to fight the case in front of a jury, as well as advising that our client was not going to plead to any felony or any crime requiring sex offender registration, we were finally able to get the prosecutor to agree to an acceptable offer. Our client entered an Alford plea of guilty (wherein he did not admit guilt; only that he acknowledged the strength of the Commonwealth's evidence against him) to two REDUCED MISDEMEANOR charges of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 15, which DO NOT REQUIRE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION, and was sentenced to an additional three and a half months in jail.

Failed Polygraph Resulted in Full Confession to Violent Rape – NOT GUILTY VERDICT

Navy E-3 was charged with RAPE of his former girlfriend, a female sailor in his command, as well as AGGRAVATED ASSAULT with a means likely to inflict death or grievous bodily injury and FALSE OFFICIAL STATEMENT (lying to NCIS), in addition to SEXUAL ASSAULT upon another sailor in his command, and PROVIDING ALCOHOL to that underage sailor. At the Art. 32, we were able to secure an acknowledgment from the one alleged victim that she had no basis to contend that our client had sexually assaulted her as well as an admission that she made the accusation in an effort to avoid getting in trouble for underage drinking and being late to muster. After the Art. 32, the charges related to the one sailor were withdrawn and we went to a General Court-Martial on the rape, aggravated assault and false official statement charges. At the end of to our client's first NCIS interrogation, where he denied raping the sailor, he agreed to take an NCIS polygraph. Two months later during a deployment, our client was flown off the ship to take the polygraph. After he was told that the polygraph indicated he was lying, he subsequently provided a signed, WRITTEN CONFESSION admitting to the violent rape and aggravated assault of his former girlfriend, and lying in his first statement to NCIS. At trial, the we successfully challenged the entire jury panel on the grounds of improper jury selection by the convening authority which systematically excluded anyone in the pay-grade below E-7 from being on the panel. The new jury panel had 17 members on it, 7 of which were in the paygrade of E-6. After Mr. McCormack's intense cross examination of not only the alleged victim, as well as the polygraph examiner and lead NCIS agent, the jury returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY to the rape and false official statement charges. Our client did not testify and we presented no evidence. Although our client was convicted of a lesser included offense of simple assault and battery, he was sentenced to NJP equivalent punishment.

Indecent Exposure - NOT GUILTY 
Our client, an Army Staff Sergeant (E-6) retained our services after being charged in Virginia Beach with Indecent Exposure. A woman alleged that, while sitting at a traffic light, she had looked over when our client attempted to get her attention. She claimed that, upon looking over, she observed him to be masturbating in his front seat while staring at her. The woman and the Commonwealth Attorney’s office were adamant that they would not agree to the charge being dropped. At trial, the arresting officer testified that the woman had told him that our client was “either masturbating or simulating masturbation.” The woman, however, was hysterical throughout her testimony, and insisted that she had seen our client’s penis. Additionally, she had taken pictures of our client with his hands above his lap, claiming that the pictures backed up her assertions. After hearing testimony from the woman, the arresting officer, and our client, the judge found our client NOT GUILTY of the charge, agreeing with our argument that, based on the evidence before the court, the Commonwealth had failed to meet its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Rape - Sexual Abuse Charges - ACQUITTED 
Our client was charged by the military with raping and sexually abusing his stepdaughter while photographing and videotaping the sex acts. Two independent witnesses testified that they allegedly saw the video tape of the accused having sex with the child. Client was offered a seven year pretrial agreement, but we rejected it and took the case to an enlisted jury, where he was ACQUITTED of all charges.

Doctor Accused of Sex Assault of Patient - NOT GUILTY 
Our client was a military physician charged with sexually assaulting a female patient while examining her alone in his office. At trial, we had the government bring into the court room the actual bed from our client’s office on which the examination occurred, as well as a medical training mannequin which was used as demonstrative evidence during the presentation of our case. After aggressive cross examination of the alleged victim, and our utilization of the bed and medical training mannequin, our client was found NOT GUILTY of all charges.

Navy Doctor Accused of Sex Assault of Multiple Patients – COMPLETE ACQUITTAL Our client was a General Medical Officer on an aircraft carrier who was accused by multiple female patients of sexual assaults during pelvic exams. We were able to secure withdrawal of charges on some of the alleged victims, however we went to trial on charges related to four of the alleged victims. During trial, we had a duplicate examination table and medical training props brought into the court, at which time we aggressively cross examined the government’s expert witness as he demonstrated procedures for conducting pelvic exams. Each alleged victim was subjected to extensive cross examination – without putting our client on the stand, we secured a COMPLETE ACQUITTAL OF ALL CHARGES

Sexual Assault Charges in Medical Setting - ACQUITTED 
Navy corpsman was charged with sexually assaulting two female patients under his care. Both victims positively identified our client as having committed the sexual assaults. Our client made a statement to the investigators to the effect that he did “massage” one of the patients and a search of his barracks resulted in recovery of potentially damaging evidence. Pre-trial negotiations were attempted without success, so the case proceeded to an enlisted jury, which ACQUITTED our client of all charges.

Sexual Assault - Medical Setting - NOT GUILTY 
Our client was a male oral surgeon who was charged by the military with sexually assaulting three junior enlisted men in a health care setting. Our client acknowledged having contact with the genitalia of two of the men during oral surgery, however defended his actions as being medically necessary. Our client was found NOT GUILTY of all charges by a General Courts-Martial jury.

Sex Assault Charge - REDUCED TO MISDEMEANOR AND NO SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION 
Our client, an enlisted Navy Sailor, was charged with Object Sexual Penetration in Chesapeake. He had retained other counsel for the preliminary hearing, and was told at that point that no plea bargain would be offered. Object Sexual Penetration carries up to life in prison and lifetime sex offender registration upon conviction. Once retained, we immediately met with the prosecutor and started investigating the facts of the case. Although our client had made incriminating statements to the alleged victim via text message shortly after the incident, we were able to establish certain issues with the case that were brought to the attention of the prosecutor, and pressed the prosecutor on offering a plea deal. During this process, we advised the prosecutor that our client would not accept a plea to a felony nor to any offense requiring registration as a sex offender. Prior to the scheduled trial date, the prosecutor agreed to offer a guilty plea to the reduced misdemeanor offense of misdemeanor sexual battery. As a result of our efforts, our client avoided the significant risk of becoming a convicted felon and registered sex offender.

Sexual Relations with Underaged Child - Judge agrees to NO ACTIVE JAIL TIME 
A young man retained our firm for a misdemeanor appeal after being convicted in Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court of Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor. Our client was represented at that trial by another attorney, and wound up being sentenced to six months in jail. The underlying facts of the case were that our client, in his early to mid-twenties, had engaged in sexual relations with a minor female. The alleged victim’s parents were the driving force behind the prosecution, and were sternly opposed to any lesser sentence than our client received with his prior counsel. At the appeal trial in Circuit Court, we entered a No Contest plea to the charge, and prepared our client and our case for sentencing, several months later. Due to the facts and nature of the alleged offense, the judge required that our client undergo a psychosexual evaluation with the report to weigh heavily on the judge’s sentencing decision. Prior to his sentencing date, in order to have our client as best prepared for sentencing as possible, we suggested that he undergo sex offender therapy/counseling, complete community service, and obtain letters speaking to his character. At the sentencing hearing, the alleged victim’s parents testified about how traumatized their daughter was from the allegedly consensual sexual encounter, and offered a significant amount of damaging testimony against our client. As evidence of mitigation, we offered our client’s former Navy evaluations and awards, documentation of therapy and other treatment, community service documentation, as well as a number of letters speaking very highly of our client’s character. At the conclusion of arguments by the attorneys, the prosecutor asked for a “significant amount of active jail time.” We requested that all jail time be suspended to allow for our client to continue to rehabilitate and not regress, and in consideration of his good background and overall character. The judge agreed with our position, sentencing our client to a FULLY SUSPENDED period of incarceration, meaning that he had NO ACTIVE JAIL SENTENCE.

State and Military Charges Avoided – Client was then Commissioned

Navy E-7 was investigated by civilian police and NCIS for sexual assault upon a civilian female. Upon retention, we contacted the civilian police, NCIS and our client's command to immediately terminate efforts to interview our client. Our client was then served with an emergency protective order entered against him by the civilian court. When we appeared at the protective order hearing, Greg McCormack subjected the complainant to extensive cross examination, having a court reporter to transcribe that testimony for use in the defense of the sexual assault accusations. The civilian court dismissed the protective order after the cross examination. Once we had the transcript from that hearing, we contacted the civilian detective and advised that we would agree with our client being interviewed at the NCIS office, with Greg McCormack being present at all times during the interview. During that interview, we provided a copy of the transcript from the protective order hearing to both the civilian detective and NCIS. Eventually we were advised the civilian prosecutor did not intend to prosecute, however the case remained under investigation by NCIS. Prior to the commencement of the investigation, our client had been selected to be commissioned as an officer, however his commissioning was put in a hold status pending the investigation. After the civilian prosecutor declined to prosecute, our client was permitted to proceed with his commissioning, however we still had not received final word as to the Navy investigation. Several months later, our client finally received orders to his new command, with the investigation being closed in his favor.

Jury Verdict of NOT GUILTY in Sex Assault Case 
Our client passed out in a friend's room after consuming a significant amount of alcohol. The roommate was in bed with a female, when the female reportedly awoke to a hand fondling her genitalia. The roommate woke up and found our client laying on the floor next to the bed, with his zipper down. After kicking our client out of the room, and later physically attacking our client for what he allegedly had done to the woman, our client was charged with sexually assaulting the woman. Without putting our client on the witness stand or presenting any evidence, the jury found our client NOT GUILTY of sexual assault.

Minor Accused of Sexual Assault - CRIMINAL CHARGES NOT PURSUED 
Our client, a 14 year-old boy, was charged with sexually assaulting a young female neighbor in Virginia Beach after she made a complaint that he anally sodomized her. After extensive discussions with the prosecutor, wherein we expressed our serious concerns about the case and credibility of the alleged victim, the prosecutor agreed to NOLLE PROSSE all charges.

Aggravated Sexual Battery - CHARGE DISMISSED 
Our office was retained by the wife of a middle-aged man whom had been accused of molesting his young daughter after she made a disclosure to her school counselor. He was charged with one count of Aggravated Sexual Battery, which carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison, as well as lifetime sex offender registration. After being initially denied bond by the magistrate upon his arrest, we scheduled a bond hearing for our client. In cases involving sexual assault, there is a presumption of no bond, wherein the defense must rebut that presumption in order for the defendant to be released on bond. Although this is an extremely high burden to surpass, we successfully rebutted the presumption and our client was GRANTED BOND pending trial. After speaking to our client and his wife, we learned of what was likely the rationale behind their daughter’s accusation, which we then advised the prosecutor of. The daughter soon thereafter recanted her accusation, and the charge against our client was DISMISSED.

Rape of a Fellow College Student - CHARGE DISMISSED 
A local college student with outstanding grades and who was well-liked by his professors was charged with raping a female student at the same institution. Our client had previously been through the school's administrative hearings, which produced valuable records of their contact and the complainant's versions of the events. The alleged sexual assault followed several other consensual sexual contacts between the complainant and our client. We were advised by our client of the nature of their contact and instituted an exhaustive investigation into the case. Immediately upon being retained, we contacted the prosecutor assigned to the case and informed her of the major credibility issues we believed the complainant had, and that we would be arguing that the judge allow us to question the alleged victim at the preliminary hearing about sensitive information relating to her sexual past and relationship status. Shortly after this discussion with the prosecutor, the sole charge of rape was DISMISSED prior to the preliminary hearing.

Naval Aviator Accused of Rape – CHARGES AVOIDED

Our client was at a local tavern with members of his command, where he met a woman who he eventually took home and had sex with that night. The next day, he was advised that she had filed a rape complaint against him. Upon being retained, we had our investigator go to the tavern to determine if there were security camera in the tavern. We also conducted extensive background investigation of the complainant and then had our investigator contact and try to interview some individuals who were her friends on Facebook . After finally being able to secure the security videos, we had a meeting with the lead prosecutor at the Navy RLSO at which time we provided a copy of the videos as well as some of the background information we were able to secure. We were told at that point that NCIS had not been able to obtain the security footage which we obtained within several days of the complaint – we showed the prosecutor some of the videos we had during the meeting, which clearly showed the complainant was quite flirtatious with our client. After several weeks, we were advised that no charges would be initiated against our client and he was released from a legal hold and was able to deploy on a carrier as previously scheduled.

Sexual Abuse of Step Daughter - CHARGES DISMISSED - PENALTY REDUCED 
Our client was facing multiple felony charges relating to alleged sexual abuse of his step-daughter for several years, with convictions on some or all charges carrying the possibility of life in prison. After negotiating with prosecutors, we were able to secure a plea agreement in which all of the charges were DISMISSED and our client was found guilty, pursuant to his plea, of one offense and was sentenced to less than two years in prison.

Child Molestation Charge - CHARGE REDUCED TO MISDEMEANOR 
After several years of having no contact with his daughter, our client was arrested on eight felony warrants alleging forcible sodomy and sexual molestation of his daughter thirty years ago. At the preliminary hearing, after aggressive cross examination of our client's daughter, we were able to secure a dismissal of five warrants, however three warrants were certified to the grand jury, and a direct indictment was issued for a fourth felony office. As the case progressed towards trial, we were able to acquire some records of counseling from out of state which had some conflicting information as to the time frame of the alleged sexual assaults. Although that information, together with a transcript from the preliminary hearing, during which additional conflicting information was developed during cross examination of the daughter, placed the case in a strong defense position, the fact remained that if there was not a complete acquittal of all charges, our client could easily spend the rest of his life in prison and be required to register as a sexual offender. After repeated efforts to negotiate a resolution of the case to eliminate the risks of felony convictions, imprisonment and sex offender registration, we were finally able to secure the prosecutor’s agreement to dismiss all felony charges upon an Alford guilty plea to a misdemeanor offense (the defendant enters a guilty plea in order to secure a plea agreement, while advising the court that he did not commit the offense in question). After a 5 minute hearing in court, our client was able to move on with his life, with only a misdemeanor conviction, a suspended jail sentence and no sex offender registration.

Rape - Sodomy - Sexual Assault Charges - NOT GUILTY 
Our client was charged by the military with the rape, sodomy and sexual assault of his stepdaughter over a period of several years. The accusations came out when our client was in Afghanistan and upon his return to the country; he was immediately placed into pretrial confinement. In addition to the sexual offenses against the child, our client was also charged with sexual assault upon his wife, possession of child pornography, assault and battery on two of his other stepchildren and assorted other offenses that involved theft, transportation and possession of military explosives and ammunition. In addition, the prosecution notified us that they intended to present evidence of a prior child sexual assault allegedly committed by our client years earlier. Prior to trial, several charges were withdrawn including the alleged sexual assault of his wife, as well as the child pornography offense. Several weeks before trial, the prosecution provided us with notice of evidence that on its face, appeared to be devastating to our case - that the child's DNA was found on some adult sex toys that the child was at that point saying our client used on her. After several days of trial, and four hours of deliberations, the jury returned with a verdict of NOT GUILTY of all charges related to the sexual abuse of the stepdaughter, as well as the assault and battery of the other stepchildren – we secured those acquittals without our client testifying and we presented no evidence in our defense case.

Child Sex Abuse - Other Criminal Charges - NOT GUILTY 
Our client was charged by the military with rape, sodomy and indecent acts upon his 10 year old step-daughter, in addition to assorted charges related to opening mail, fraudulent use of credit cards and fraudulent enlistment. We negotiated a pre-trial agreement wherein our client agreed to plead guilty to the non-sex charges, in order to reduce our client's maximum exposure in the event of conviction on the sex charges from life without possibility of parole, to 15 years. We then took the charges of rape, sodomy and indecent acts to a contested trial, with a jury. After extensive cross-examination of the alleged victim and another relative, we rested our case without presenting any evidence. The jury deliberated for only 54 minutes and returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY of all of the sex charges. We then proceeded to the sentencing phase on the remaining charges to which our client entered a plea of guilty and the jury sentenced him to only minor military punishment, with no confinement.

Rape - Forcible Sodomy Charges - ACQUITTED 
Our client was charged in state court with rape and two counts of forcible sodomy of his step-daughter. Prior to trial, we secured a favorable ruling from the Court which prevented the prosecution from presenting evidence obtained during a physical examination of the child. Extensive defense cross-examination of the child developed significant issues as to the credibility of the child. After the prosecution rested its case, we concluded that the best course was not to present any evidence, so we rested our case. The jury returned an ACQUITTAL on all charges in 50 minutes.

Child Rape - ACQUITTED 
Our client was charged with the rape of his young step-daughter. The prosecution directly indicted our client which meant that we had no preliminary hearing to access the evidence against our client. In a jury trial, we secured an ACQUITTAL without our client ever taking the witness stand.

Navy E-7 charged with Rape and Sex Assault of Daughter of– CHARGES WITHDRAWN, THEN NO MISCONDUCT FINDING BY ADMINISTRATIVE SEPARATION BOARD.

E-7 charged with rape and sexual assault of his daughter. After Art 32, the charges were withdrawn. However, based upon a Navy FAP determination that the rape and sex assault charges were founded, Naval Personnel Command initiated administrative separation action against our client. We secured a “no misconduct” finding by the administrative separation board and our client was then able to retire.

Rape - Sexual Assault Charges - NOT GUILTY 
In a military trial, our client was charged with the forcible rape and sexual assault of his twelve-year-old stepdaughter. Prosecution witnesses alleged that our client drugged the child before raping her. Extensive evidence was presented by prosecution and defense expert witnesses on the "rape trauma syndrome." Our client was found NOT GUILTY of the rape and sexual assault charges by the jury.

Sex With a Minor - CHARGES DISMISSED 
A young man was charged by local police with several offenses related to engaging in sexual relations with underage girls. We secured the DISMISSAL of all charges prior to the preliminary hearing.

Aggravated Sexual Battery - Indecent Liberties Charges - NOT GUILTY - MISTRIAL 
Our client was charged by local police with Aggravated Sexual Battery and Indecent Liberties with his step-daughter. After a jury trial, he was found NOT GUILTY of the Indecent Liberties charge and the jury DEADLOCKED on the remaining charge resulting in a MISTRIAL. Several months later, the Aggravated Sexual Battery charge was nolle prossed.

Multiple Criminal Charges - REDUCED SENTENCE - CHARGES DISMISSED 
Our client was charged by the military with 26 offenses against his wife, to include rape, maiming, 5 specifications of forcible sodomy and 11 specifications of assault. After the preliminary hearing, we were able to negotiate a plea agreement which resulted in a Guilty plea to only 4 specifications (maiming, two assaults and communicating a threat) which significantly limited his confinement exposure from life without parole to 11 years. The prosecution asked for a seven year sentence and although the judge imposed a 5 year sentence, our client's confinement was limited to 15 months under the terms of the plea agreement we negotiated. The remaining 22 specifications were DISMISSED.

Rape - Sexual Assault Charges - NOT GUILTY - NO CONFINEMENT 
Our client was charged by the military with rape and indecent assault of a junior soldier in the barracks. Upon questioning by the authorities, our client gave significantly contradictory versions of events. One of his "friends" appeared at trial and testified as to differing stories that our client gave to him - from nothing happened, to they had sex. Our client's DNA was found on the woman's shirt after the alleged rape. Although our client was convicted of the indecent assault on an earlier occasion, the jury found our client NOT GUILTY of rape. Our client never took the witness stand. On sentencing, although he was sentenced to be discharged from the military, he was NOT SENTENCED TO CONFINEMENT.

Rape - Abduction Charges - CHARGES WITHDRAWN 
Our client was charged by local authorities with rape and abduction of a co-worker. He acknowledged to the police that he did have sexual relations with the woman, at the work place, but contended the acts were consensual. At the trial in Circuit Court, we prevailed on a motion to preclude the prosecutors from putting on evidence related to alleged injuries which resulted in the WITHDRAWAL of the charges by the office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney. We were then able to secure an expungement of the arrest records in the Virginia Court.

Rape - Forcible Sodomy Charges - ACQUITTED 
Our client was charged by the military with rape and forcibly sodomy of a female shipmate. The alleged victim contended she was intoxicated and asleep at the time of the repeated assaults. Our client was subjected to 3 interrogations where he gave conflicting statements after a polygraph examination. We secured a complete ACQUITTAL by the jury of all charges, without putting on any evidence in our case.

Sexual Assault Charges - CHARGES DISMISSED 
A young man was charged with forcible sodomy and forcible object penetration. Prior to the preliminary hearing, we secured the sworn admission from the alleged victim that all sexual acts were consented to and thereafter secured a DISMISSAL of the criminal charges.

Rape - Sexual Assault Charges - CHARGES WITHDRAWN 
Naval Academy Midshipman in his senior year was accused of rape, sodomy and assorted offenses against another Midshipman. After the Art. 32 Investigation, apparently as a result of discovery issues which we raised, all charges were WITHDRAWN before trial.

Rape - Sexual Assault Charges - REDUCED TO MISDEMEANOR 
Our client was arrested and charged with rape and object sexual penetration by local authorities. He had been at a party at a shipmate's home with several other members of his command where some sexual activity occurred. After our client engaged in sex with the female at the apartment, she contacted the local police department with a claim that she had been raped and digitally penetrated by our client. Our client later turned himself in, at which time he was arrested and put in jail on the two charges. Despite the strenuous objection of the prosecutor, we were able to secure a bond for our client and he was released from jail pending the outcome of his trial. We continued to aggressively defend our client and ultimately, when the case went to the preliminary hearing, we secured an agreement resulting in the dismissal of the rape and object penetration charges, in exchange for our client's plea to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and battery. Our client was able to continue in his military career.

Rape - Sexual Assault Charges - CHARGES DISMISED 
Our client was arrested and charged with rape and object sexual penetration. He had been at a party at a friend’s home with several other friends where some sexual activity occurred. After our client engaged in sex with the female at the apartment, she contacted the local police department with a claim that she had been raped and digitally penetrated by our client. Our client later turned himself in, at which time he was arrested and put in jail on the two charges. Despite the strenuous objection of the prosecutor, we were able to secure a bond for our client and he was released from jail pending the outcome of his trial. We continued to aggressively defend our client and ultimately, when the case went to the preliminary hearing, we secured an agreement resulting in the DISMISSAL of the rape and object penetration charges, in exchange for a plea to a simple assault and battery offense.

Felonious Sexual Assault Charges - CHANGE OF VENUE - NO CONVICTION 
Our client was charged with several felonies related to alleged sexual assault of his wife. In an effort to secure a more favorable jurisdiction for disposition of the case, we successfully secured the transfer of jurisdiction to the military where the case was resolved without any convictions on our client's record.

Rape - Forcible Sodomy Charges - AVOIDED CRIMINAL PROSECUTION 
Our client was charged by the military with forcible sodomy and three counts of rape related to an incident where several soldiers were drinking in a motel room. The prosecution had witnesses ready to testify that the alleged victim was highly intoxicated and that our client repeatedly kept engaging in sexual activity despite being pulled off of her and told to leave her alone. Prior to the preliminary hearing, we submitted a request for discharge in lieu of Courts-Martial which the prosecution staff effectively laughed at due to the seriousness of the charges. Despite upper level chain of command recommendations that the discharge request be denied, we were able to secure approval of the request and our client totally AVOIDED CRIMINAL PROSECUTION on charges that easily could have put him in prison for life.

Attempted Rape Charges - SEVERELY REDUCED CHARGES - MINIMAL SENTENCING 
Coast Guard enlisted man was charged with attempted rape and indecent assault upon a female crew member after he was found in the female's rack on the ship. Both the alleged victim and our client were intoxicated, however our client later gave a very damaging statement to the investigator. Before the preliminary hearing, we were able to negotiate a pre-trial agreement which provided for dismissal of the attempted rape charge and a plea of guilty to a lesser offense on the sexual assault charge - that plea would eliminate the requirement of our client to register as a sexual offender. The deal provided for the government to suspend any confinement in excess of one year. At trial, despite the prosecution's argument for an 18 month sentence, we secured a sentence of only 30 days of confinement and other minor military punishments.

Forcible Sodomy - Sexual Assault Charges - CHARGES DISMISSED 
Our client was charged with forcible sodomy and forcible object penetration in state court. Prior to the preliminary hearing, we secured the sworn admission from the alleged victim that all sexual acts were consented to and thereafter secured a DISMISSAL of the criminal charges.

Rape Charges - SEVERELY REDUCED CHARGES - MINIMAL SENTENCING 
Our client, who was on probation for a larceny conviction, was arrested and charged with rape of a Russian immigrant who reportedly worked at go-go bars, and who also had her own pornography website. Despite her background, the rules of evidence under what is commonly known as the “rape shield law” strictly limits the admission of such evidence at trial in defense of a rape charge. Due to our client's significant criminal record, as well as the statement he made to the police upon his arrest, putting our client on the stand to testify in defense would have been an unwise move. At the preliminary hearing, we were able to develop significant issues that would assist us at trial, and which brought into question the underlying credibility of the complainant. Despite these issues, our client was at grave risk of being convicted of rape if the case went to trial. A physical examination of the complainant immediately after the alleged rape revealed multiple abrasions, as well as a very large bruise on her arm. Although our client was held in jail pending trial on a no bond status, we were able to resolve an unrelated probation violation which enabled our client to serve his confinement time on that offense while pending trial on the rape charge. After extensive pre-trial investigation and negotiations with the prosecutor, we were able to finally secure a resolution of the case with the rape charge being dismissed in exchange for our client’s guilty plea to a reduced charge of simple assault and battery (grabbing her by the arm, which is a misdemeanor offense with no sex offender registration requirement), with 90 days of jail to be served, with full credit for time served awaiting trial.

Forcible Rape Charges - ACQUITTED 
A man was prosecuted by state authorities for forcible rape of a woman in a motel room. The prosecution had a video tape of our client, and of his friend, which showed the girl in the motel room, passed out from alcohol, lying in a pool of vomit. Our client was ACQUITTED of the charge.

Child Pornography Charges - CHARGES DISMISSED 
A former teacher was indicted by Federal authorities and charged with 34 felony counts of offenses related to alleged illegal video recording of children and possession of pornography related to children. In our efforts to negotiate a plea agreement with the prosecutor, we were faced with the prosecutor taking a very firm position that our client would have to plead guilty to several charges, which would expose him to a period of confinement under the sentencing guidelines that could effectively be longer than our client's life expectancy due to his age. Despite the risks related to the case, we rejected the plea agreement offer, advised the prosecutor we were preparing to go to trial, but continued our negotiation efforts. We eventually secured the prosecutor's agreement to dismiss all but one count of the 34 count indictment, significantly reducing the confinement potential.

Indecency Charge - CHARGES DISMISSED 
Our client faced charges by the military involving a co-worker who alleged that he exposed himself and masturbated in front of her on numerous occasions at work. After the preliminary hearing, all charges were DISMISSED.

Indecent Exposure Charge - CHARGES DISMISSED 
A Navy Lieutenant, who was also a college student, was charged with indecent exposure and masturbation after a female student said she observed him masturbating in the school's library. The incident allegedly occurred around noon on a weekday. The Lieutenant was adamant that this did not occur and was extremely upset and worried, since a conviction of this nature would surely mean the end of his Naval career and carried the possibility of up to 2 years in jail. After taking on the case, we had our investigators contact school security to take pictures of the alleged scene. The pictures were helpful to show that our client was sitting on a sofa chair which was in full view of two of the library's main pathways and adjacent to numerous study desks. Armed with this and other evidence, we appeared for trial. At trial, the police officer's evidence was insufficient to prove her case and the judge dismissed both charges. The Lieutenant was able to return to active duty and continue his career without retribution from the Navy.

Master Chief’s Son Charged with Rape – HUNG JURY

A retired Navy Master Chief contacted our firm after his 18 year-old son was charged with rape and object sexual penetration of a 15 year-old female acquaintance from school in Chesapeake. Both of those charges carry a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of life imprisonment, as well as lifetime registration with the sex offender registry. The complainant alleged that our client forced her to have sex in his parent's house while no one was home. During the jury trial, we presented evidence and extremely aggressive cross-examination of officers and the alleged victim which apprised the jury of a multitude of exculpatory evidence which supported our client's case. Regardless of the amount of positive evidence we were able to elicit to support our client, the prosecutor relied heavily on text messages sent to the complainant by our client which, when read without context, purport to show him apologizing for sexually assaulting her. Apparently some in the jury could not look past those text messages, which resulted in a hung jury. Due to the evolution of the trial and the facts we elicited, the prosecutor chose not to re-try the case and we succeeded in securing an extremely favorable plea for our client. The prosecutor agreed to NOLLE PROSSE the object sexual penetration charge and REDUCED the rape charge to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor that DOES NOT REQUIRE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION.

Aggravated Sexual Battery and Attempted Rape - NOT GUILTY 

Our client was charged with sexually assaulting his female friend while she was “mentally helpless” or “physically incapacitated.”  The allegations were that the alleged victim met our client and friends at a bar, where she consumed alcohol.  While our client was driving the alleged victim home, she became sick and asked that our client take her to the emergency room.  After spending several hours at the ER, where she received IV fluids, she left the ER and our client drove her back to her apartment.  Once back at her apartment, the alleged victim said that she went to go to sleep.  As she fell asleep, she testified (and also told police and the sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE)), that our client was sitting on the floor next to her bed.  The next thing she knew, she claimed, was that she woke up to her pants and underwear having been pulled down, and our client on top of her, with his penis pressing up against her buttocks.  After our client left her apartment, she began texting with him, whereupon our client made numerous statements which appeared to be admissions to her accusations that he sexually touched her while sleeping.  

Prior to trial, our client refused plea offers including a “time-served” offer which would still require a felony conviction and lifetime registration as a sex offender.  At trial, during an intense and thorough cross-examination of the alleged victim, we were able to expose numerous significant issues which had a massive negative impact on her credibility as a witness.  The two major issues we exposed were that: 1) she agreed that she had actually invited our client to scratch her back in the bed prior to falling asleep; and 2) she had simulated sexual acts with our client only approximately three weeks prior to the offense date, which seriously contradicted her repeated assertions during trial that they were “just friends.”  

Our client testified, admitting touching the alleged victim and wanting to have sex with her, but denied knowing or suspecting she was asleep or “incapacitated.”  Throughout the trial, including opening statement and closing arguments, the prosecution heavily focused their case on the apparent admissions made in the text messages.  Our argument and position in the case was that the case involved way more than just the text messages, including the lack of credibility of the alleged victim, and our client’s point-of-view during the incident itself.  After closing arguments, the jury retired to deliberate.  After only 35 minutes, the jury returned with a verdict of NOT GUILTY of BOTH CHARGES.