Worried That Your Article 120, UCMJ (Sexual Assault) Accuser is Going to Lie or Not Remember? Part 3

The majority of the Eastern Judicial Circuit’s court-martials involving Article 120, UCMJ allegations take place onboard Camp Lejeune, NC. The military trial judges stationed onboard Camp Lejeune permit the defense attorneys to impeach accusers of sexual assault by illustrating that they have committed untruthful acts in the past.  Many people think that an Article 120, UCMJ accuser must have been previously convicted of a crime of moral turpitude such as: larceny, robbery, false official statement, fraud etc, in order to be impeached in that fashion.  This is a common misnomer because there is a specific Military Rule of Evidence that allows an Article 120, UCMJ accuser to be impeached without being convicted.  Under Military Rule of Evidence 608(b), a military defense counsel can impeach an Article 120, UCMJ accuser even if the acts have not resulted in the witness’s conviction.

There is an entirely different rule that permits military defense attorneys to impeach a person on the witness stand by using a prior criminal conviction.  Specifically, Military Rule of Evidence 609 allows military defense attorneys to use extrinsic evidence of a prior conviction during cross-examination.  However, the witness’s prior conviction must be relevant and probative of the witness’s character for truthfulness or untruthfulness.  The thought process being: “If an accuser is willing to commit untruthful and deceitful acts in the past, the accuser may be willing to lie on the witness stand about the night in question.” Again, the conviction must have involved an element of dishonesty that would affect an accuser’s truthfulness. 

If the person accusing you of sexual assault, abusive sexual contact or rape has lied, manipulated, or distorted the truth in the past you need a skilled military defense attorney that can expose their character.  Call Matthew Thomas Law, PLLC today for a free consultation in order to see if this is applicable to your case.