McClatchy Newspapers
Published: September 14, 2012
WASHINGTON - The Marine Corps commandant wanted to snuff out rape in the ranks. However, his well-meaning but overly blunt talk instead complicated Marine sexual-assault cases worldwide and raised troubling questions about whether accused Marines will get a fair shake.
This week, for the second time in recent months, a Marine Corps trial judge found that Gen. James F. Amos' forceful remarks on sexual assault earlier this year presented the appearance of unlawful command influence.
Command influence can severely hinder the military justice system, where facts are found and fates determined by people who are drilled to obey their superiors.
So on Marine Corps bases from Twentynine Palms in California to Parris Island in South Carolina and beyond, defense attorneys are quietly but persistently challenging a system that they fear could be stacked against them. Already, some have secured additional trial help.
The commandant, a four-star general, has been compelled to answer a judge's written questions under oath. Conceivably, some cases could be dropped altogether, an ironic and unintended consequence of the Marine leadership's aggressive anti-rape stance.
"Our cases, particularly our sexual-assault cases, are being tried under intense scrutiny from both within and outside the Marine Corps," Col. John Baker, the chief defense counsel of the Marine Corps, said in an email Thursday.
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