A Sergeant First Class stationed in Vilseck, Germany, was charged with four counts of assault and battery, one count of communicating a threat to a military police officer and one count of drunk and disorderly conduct. The Sergeant First Class of 15 years was facing a bad conduct discharge and confinement if convicted. He had already been removed from his position and told he would not be deploying with his unit.
Duane Kees was retained on the case and, with the help of the military defense counsel, CPT Matthew Forst, began to investigate the night of the incident. It was quickly determined that the government had not done a thorough investigation and that there were many holes in the government's theory of the case.
The trial lasted for three days, in which four eyewitnesses, including a military police officer, testified to the assaults charges; and several witnesses, including multiple police officers, testified concerning the counts of drunk and disorderly conduct and communicating a threat to a military police officer. Following the testimony of nine government witnesses and only two defense witnesses, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all charges within 36 minutes. The client will deploy to Afghanistan immediately with no mention of this court martial on his record.
