2023, U.S. v. E-5, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. An Air Force Staff Sergeant was accused by his estranged wife, in the midst of a custody dispute, of sexually assaulting her. Consequently, court-martial... charges are preferred against the client and referred to a general court-martial. Mr. Freeburg investigates the case further and presents the government with discovery demand after discovery demand for various employment records showing the alleged victim’s long history of lying and mentally disturbed behavior. Eventually, only five days before trial, the Air Force dismissed the charges.
Criminal defense
Federal Court case
Jan 01, 2024
OUTCOME: Pleaded guilty and sentenced to the minimum allowed by law
U.S. v. E.R., District Court, Eastern District of Virginia. A Marine E-4 was arrested and investigated by NCIS for possession and distribution of Child P. As we aimed to defend him at court-martial, th...e U. S. Attorney decided that the case would be prosecuted in a district court where the potential punishments could be higher. Once indicted and prosecuted, we were able to obtain discovery. After thoroughly evaluating the discovery, we recommended a pretrial agreement, which was accepted. We then prepared a detained robust sentencing package for the U.S. PreSentence Report and a compelling Sentencing Memorandum from us. The judge sentenced the client to a below-guideline sentence of five years for the distro of CP (the mandatory minimum that must be adjudged) and 12 months to run concurrently for possessing an unregistered silencer. The judge also waived the payment of fines. And, unlike at court-martial, the judge delayed the client's reporting to prison until early January--she said so that he could have time over the holidays with his family.
Military law
Acquittal
Dec 01, 2023
OUTCOME: Not Guilty of All Sexual Assault and Sex Charges, No SOR, No Dishonorable or Bad Conduct Discharge, Retirement Preserved
U.S. v. E-7, United States Army, Fort Drum, New York. A retirement-eligible Army Sergeant First Class is accused by his ex-wife of sexual assault, surreptitiously recording their sex life and domestic... violence, along with various other allegations and even places the client into pretrial confinement! The Soldier retains Cave & Freeburg for the court-martial charges. Mr. Freeburg exhaustively investigates the case, files motions to shape the battlefield and exposes how the bitter ex-wife had fabricated or exaggerated parts of her story. Rather than risk taking all of the allegations to trial, the government agrees to a plea deal, dismissing all sex-related charges. The Soldier is sentenced to time served and a rank reduction.
Result:
Military law
Acquittal
Nov 01, 2023
OUTCOME: Not Guilty of All Charges, No Federal Conviction, No Punitive Discharge, Retirement Preserved.
U.S. v. E-7, United States Marine Corps, Quantico Marine Corps Base, Virginia. A Gunnery Sergeant is accused of making five false official statements about his relationship with a foreign national. C...ave & Freeburg, LLP, is retained, and Mr. Freeburg investigates the case and files several successful motions to produce necessary witnesses and shape the trial. At trial, Mr. Freeburg makes strong points for innocence through cross-examining the government witnesses, calls various character witnesses to talk about the GySgt’s stellar career, and then wraps up the defense in closing argument. The panel only takes forty-five minutes to issue a Not Guilty verdict!
Military law
Charges dismissed
Oct 01, 2023
OUTCOME: All charges were dismissed as a result of the motion. No trial, no federal conviction, no dismissal from the service.
U.S. v. O-5, Germany: The client was accused of violating a protective order and obstructing justice by contacting his wife and children. After the charges were referred to trial, a motion was made for... the military judge to declare the protective order illegal. The military judge agreed that the military protective order was unlawful because it interfered with the client's constitutional rights without having a valid military purpose. This situation of MPOs, while there is an ongoing divorce, separation, or child custody issue, is not uncommon. All charges were dismissed as a result of the motion.
No trial, no federal conviction, no dismissal from the service.
Military law
Acquittal
Jun 01, 2023
OUTCOME: ot Guilty finding by a panel of members (jury). Because of the not guilty finding there is no federal conviction, no SOR, and his retirement preserved.
Not guilty on all charges. An Air Force Senior Master Sergeant was accused of indecently exposing himself to a hotel front desk clerk. There were several successful pretrial motions to produce necessar...y witnesses for the defense, exclude evidence, and shape the trial. Having decided the client's testimony would add value, he was well prepared to give honest and truthful testimony. That and some damaging cross-examination of the prosecution case resulted in a rapid not-guilty finding.
Military law
Prosecution prevented
Apr 01, 2023
OUTCOME: No charges.
Mr. Cave, of Cave & Freeburg, convinced a convening authority not to court-martial an officer for a 10-month AWOL. Instead, administrative action was taken. The officer was retained, provided appropria...te medical interventions, and is doing well. This case exemplifies when early intervention may lead to alternate dispositions rather than court-martial.
Military law
Sex assault by medical provider charges dismissed
Jan 20, 2020
OUTCOME: Charges dismissed and no further adverse actions
As was this client, medical providers are increasingly being accused of sexual offenses during an office visit and examination. The team worked hard to examine the evidence, engage in discovery, and ta...lk to witnesses. From that work we were able to develop a very credible defense that the complaining witnesses were lying, had little credibility; and may have been discussing the allegations together. In any sexual assault case it is critical to determine if there is a reason for a complaining witness to lie--people do lie about sexual assault. Psychologists sometimes refer to this process as them seeking a "secondary gain," it might be for revenge, protecting a relationship, avoiding punishment, or as here, getting benefits. Keep in mind that prosecutors and investigators are now trained (some might say indoctrinated) to presume guilt and do not always challenge the facts and circumstances during the investigation (we generally think of this as acting from confirmation bias). Anyway, with our information we had several discussions with the prosecution about the viability of the prosecution. I can't say the prosecutor hadn't had his own concerns and problems with the case, but I do think our input helped push him over the edge--a result, case dismissed. This case presented one of many examples where the defense should never proceed on the theory the MCIO investigation is true, accurate, complete, or thorough.
Military law
Sex assault charges dismissed
Jan 01, 2020
OUTCOME: Dismissal of charges with no further adverse actions
Sometimes it is . . .
. . . worth it to take a chance and meet with the military investigator's.The standard advice from any military defense lawyer is not to talk to military investigators and to inv...oke the rights to silence and counsel. This is the best advice. However, once you've talked to a lawyer should you then meet with the investigators. 99.99% of the time the advice remains the same. But in a recent case, we made the decision to recommend an interview. A lot went into preparing for the interview so when we got there there was no question that had not been anticipated.
Military law
Sexual assault acquittal
Jan 01, 2019
OUTCOME: Full acquittal
Justice came slow but was served hot.
The client, in December 2017 was accused of rape and sexual assault of two complaining witnesses on the same night. A few months later the client was involuntar...ily extended on active duty. It wasn't until April 2019 that the charges were preferred. After the Article 32, preliminary hearing we were able to get the rape allegations involving CW-A dismissed. It was clear, and we think became clear to the prosecution, that CW-A was lying about the assault and lying during trial preparations. (No, it is unlikely there will be any adverse consequences for CW-A as a result of making any alleged false statements.)
