Attorneys wrap up Naval Academy sexual assault hearing

WASHINGTON A female U.S. Naval Academy student was highly intoxicated on the night last year when she was allegedly sexually assaulted by three midshipmen, a military prosecutor said Tuesday night as he urged an officer to move forward with a court-martial of the men.

But defense attorneys said the woman lied repeatedly about her actions during and after an off-campus party in 2012, and that there was no evidence of a forcible sexual assault.

The woman spent five days testifying during the proceeding, known as an Article 32 hearing. She has said she drank heavily and has no memory of having sex with the midshipmen, but became concerned after hearing gossip shortly after the party that she had had sex with multiple people. The Associated Press generally doesn't name those who authorities say were victims of sexual assault.

Lt. Cmdr. Phil Hammond, a prosecutor, said in his closing argument Tuesday that the woman was "substantially incapacitated" from drinking too much alcohol.

Andrew Weinstein, who is representing Midshipman Tra'ves Bush, said the woman had lied repeatedly. He also said no one at the party saw her passed out or acting as intoxicated as she claimed.

"Blackout is a function of memory," Weinstein said. "It is not an attribute of capacity."

Weinstein said the three former Navy football players — Bush and Midshipmen Eric Graham and Josh Tate — never should have been charged.

"She has no credibility," he said.

Lt. Cmdr. Angela Tang, who is representing Graham, said there was no evidence anyone used force.

"Drunk sex is not sexual assault," she said.

The hearing was wrapping up Tuesday night, a week after it began. Following closing arguments, the presiding investigative officer will review evidence and make a recommendation to the academy's superintendent. Such reviews generally take days or weeks to complete.

Tate, Graham and Bush declined to speak in court Tuesday when asked by the investigative officer. Graham has been charged with abusive sexual contact, while Bush and Tate have been charged with aggravated sexual assault. All three also are charged with making a false statement.

The case has drawn attention as the White House, Congress and the Pentagon have been focusing on the issue of sexual assault after a string of cases in the military this year. President Barack Obama highlighted the importance of the issue at the Naval Academy's graduation ceremony in May.

Earlier Tuesday, an investigator testified that the alleged victim said in an interview that she couldn't remember whether sexual encounters with the men charged in the case were consensual or not.

Speaking from Bahrain by video teleconference, Special Agent Michelle Robinson testified that the woman told her in an interview that she wasn't sure whether she had consented to the encounters.

Robinson also testified that Graham told her he had oral sex with the woman in a car outside the party. Graham made the statement in an interview during the investigation.

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Attorneys wrap up Naval Academy sexual assault hearing

WASHINGTON A female U.S. Naval Academy student was highly intoxicated on the night last year when she was allegedly sexually assaulted by three midshipmen, a military prosecutor said Tuesday night as he urged an officer to move forward with a court-martial of the men.

But defense attorneys said the woman lied repeatedly about her actions during and after an off-campus party in 2012, and that there was no evidence of a forcible sexual assault.

The woman spent five days testifying during the proceeding, known as an Article 32 hearing. She has said she drank heavily and has no memory of having sex with the midshipmen, but became concerned after hearing gossip shortly after the party that she had had sex with multiple people. The Associated Press generally doesn't name those who authorities say were victims of sexual assault.

Lt. Cmdr. Phil Hammond, a prosecutor, said in his closing argument Tuesday that the woman was "substantially incapacitated" from drinking too much alcohol.

Andrew Weinstein, who is representing Midshipman Tra'ves Bush, said the woman had lied repeatedly. He also said no one at the party saw her passed out or acting as intoxicated as she claimed.

"Blackout is a function of memory," Weinstein said. "It is not an attribute of capacity."

Weinstein said the three former Navy football players — Bush and Midshipmen Eric Graham and Josh Tate — never should have been charged.

"She has no credibility," he said.

Lt. Cmdr. Angela Tang, who is representing Graham, said there was no evidence anyone used force.

"Drunk sex is not sexual assault," she said.

The hearing was wrapping up Tuesday night, a week after it began. Following closing arguments, the presiding investigative officer will review evidence and make a recommendation to the academy's superintendent. Such reviews generally take days or weeks to complete.

Tate, Graham and Bush declined to speak in court Tuesday when asked by the investigative officer. Graham has been charged with abusive sexual contact, while Bush and Tate have been charged with aggravated sexual assault. All three also are charged with making a false statement.

The case has drawn attention as the White House, Congress and the Pentagon have been focusing on the issue of sexual assault after a string of cases in the military this year. President Barack Obama highlighted the importance of the issue at the Naval Academy's graduation ceremony in May.

Earlier Tuesday, an investigator testified that the alleged victim said in an interview that she couldn't remember whether sexual encounters with the men charged in the case were consensual or not.

Speaking from Bahrain by video teleconference, Special Agent Michelle Robinson testified that the woman told her in an interview that she wasn't sure whether she had consented to the encounters.

Robinson also testified that Graham told her he had oral sex with the woman in a car outside the party. Graham made the statement in an interview during the investigation.

View the original article here

More details emerge in Naval Academy sex assault case

WASHINGTON A U.S. Naval Academy midshipman accused of sexually assaulting a fellow student initially told a Navy investigator that he hadn't interacted with her at a party, but he changed his story in a later interview to say he had sex with her, the investigator testified Sunday

Special Agent Jesus Torres, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent who interviewed Tre'vas Bush, said Bush first told him in August 2012 that he did not have sex with the woman at an April 2012 toga party in an off-campus home in Annapolis, Md. But Torres had an interview with Bush in September after the investigator saw a suggestive social media posting by Bush.

Bush then told the agent he had sex with her at the party, Torres testified.

Torres was testifying Sunday night at a military court hearing to determine whether three midshipmen will face a court-martial on charges of sexually assaulting or abusing the woman at the party.

Also on Sunday, defense attorneys finished lengthy cross-examination of the woman at the center of the case.

She testified that Midshipman Josh Tate, one of the men charged in the case, told her shortly the party that the two had sex after she had been drinking heavily. She says that during a subsequent phone call he said he'd only been kidding about having sex with her.

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Tate, 21; Eric Graham, 21; and Bush, 22, are accused of sexually assaulting the woman at an alcohol-fueled off-campus party.

The woman has testified that she has no memory of having sex with any of the three men, but later was told by Tate that the two had sex. She said he also told her she had a sexual encounter with Graham.

She has said she only learned of what happened after hearing gossip that she had slept with multiple partners at the party. That prompted her to ask Tate whether they had sex that night. She testified that Tate responded that they had sex and joked that perhaps he should refresh her memory.

The end of cross-examination came a day after the woman was excused from testifying on Saturday. She said she was fatigued from her testimony, which began Tuesday.

Her attorney, Susan Burke, told the presiding investigative officer that one of Graham's lawyers approached her Friday evening and asked whether her client would withdraw from further testimony.

The woman had asked to be excused on both Thursday and Friday due to fatigue from difficult and sometimes graphic questioning by defense lawyers.

"It led me to believe this had been an intentional effort to exhaust the witness," Burke said Sunday.

Ronald Herrington, a lawyer for Graham, said he approached Burke only to ask if the woman planned to continue testifying.

"She choose to disclose her version of the conversation," Herrington said in an interview. "I dispute her version."

Bush and Tate are charged with aggravated sexual assault. Graham is charged with abusive sexual contact.

A hearing to determine whether the three men will face a court-martial began Tuesday at the Washington Navy Yard.

Earlier Sunday, attorneys for Bush and Graham said requests to separate the cases from a joint hearing had been denied by academy officials.

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Midshipman testifies in Naval Academy sexual assault case

WASHINGTON A midshipman testified Wednesday that she didn't remember being sexually assaulted by three former Navy football players after a night of heavy drinking, but she said one of the men told her she had sex with him and another accused player.

The woman, who is now a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, testified for more than two hours at the Washington Navy Yard at a hearing to determine whether the three midshipmen will face court-martial. She described a night of drinking in her room at the academy with a friend before going to the toga-themed party in April 2012 at an off-campus house in Annapolis, Md.

Play Video

At the crowded party, which took place in what was known as "the football house" because of its association to the team, the woman said she felt "overwhelmed" and "dizzy" from drinking too much.

"I felt like I was going to pass out," she said, noting that she leaned against structural beams in the basement to keep from falling over.

Midshipmen Josh Tate, Eric Graham and Tra'ves Bush are accused of sexually assaulting her.

The woman said she spent the night at the house and woke up the next morning without her phone or purse.

"I was really confused, and I noticed my back was really sore," she said.

Play Video

Play Video

Play Video

She also testified that she had consensual sex that Sunday morning with a student at the house who has not been charged.

The woman described feeling troubled by not remembering what happened and asked Tate, who had initially invited her to the party, to come to her room to see what he knew.

The woman also noticed "lewd comments" on Twitter that seemed directed at her and tagged to people she had slept with in the past. She also testified that rumors had spread rapidly that she had had sex with multiple partners at the party.

When Tate came to her room, she testified that he joked about her not remembering and suggested he refresh her memory.

"He told me that we did have sex," she said.

The woman also said she asked Tate if she had had sex with Graham.

"He said yes, and then I was like, `I don't want to hear anymore,"' she said.

The woman also described being reluctant to seek an investigation at first.

"Mainly, I was scared," she said. "I didn't want to anyone else to get in trouble."

She also said she feared her mother would find out and force her to leave the academy.

The woman said she decided to cooperate after hearing rumors that other people, specifically underclassmen, could be blamed.

Her cooperation with Navy investigators included wiretaps.

On cross-examination, Andrew Weinstein, Bush's attorney, noted that the woman had had a previous sexual relationship with Bush. When asked by Weinstein whether she had ever considered him capable of rape, she said, "I don't think that he would."

She also said, "He wasn't mean to me by any means," during their previous sexual relationship.

The female midshipman also testified that she didn't remember whether she had sex with Bush that night. Weinstein noted that it was Bush who told her he had told Navy investigators that the two had had sex.

Cross-examination was continuing into Wednesday night.

The case has drawn attention as the White House, Congress and the Pentagon have been focusing on the issue of sexual assault after a string of cases in the military this year.

View the original article here

U.S., Russia said to up Naval presence in Gulf region

Updated 6:15 a.m.

WASHINGTON U.S. officials say the Navy is beefing up its presence in the Persian Gulf region, increasing the number of aircraft carriers from one to two.

The USS Harry S Truman has arrived in the Arabian Sea and was scheduled to take the place of the USS Nimitz, which was supposed to head home. The Navy has ordered the Nimitz, which is in the Indian Ocean, to stay for now.

Play Video

This, as the Russian news service Interfax is citing military sources as saying Moscow is dispatching an anti-submarine ship and a cruiser to the Mediterranean. Interfax says the moves are being made due to the "well-known situation" there -- referring to the Syria crisis. But a Russian government news service, Rianovosti, says the reassignments are part of a planned rotation and aren't linked with the situation in Syria.

In addition, Britain's defense ministry said in a statement Thursday that six Royal Air Force "interceptor fast jets are deploying this morning to Akrotiri in Cyprus. This is purely a prudent and precautionary measure to ensure the protection of UK interests and the defensce of our Sovereign Base Areas at a time of heightened tension in the wider region.

"This is a movement of defensive assets operating in an air-to-air role only," the statement continued. "They are not deploying to take part in any military action against Syria. The (prime minister) has made clear no decision has been taken on our response and the gGovernment has said that there will be a Commons vote before direct military involvement."

U.S. officials describe the Pentagon decision as prudent planning and say it doesn't suggest the carrier would play a role in any possible strikes in Syria. The officials were not authorized to discuss ship movements publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Play Video

The U.S. had kept two carriers in the region, but budget cuts in February forced officials to cut to one.

CBS News correspondent David Martin reports two submarines -- one American, one British -- are in the eastern Mediterranean along with four American destroyers and a fifth on the way -- all armed with cruise missiles. That's more than enough firepower for a strike Pentagon officials say would be limited to fewer than 50 targets.

Play Video

Each of the destroyers carries about 40 cruise missiles - a satellite-guided weapon that carries a 1,000-pound warhead, has a range of 1000 miles or more and is accurate to within about 15 feet.

Standard procedure would be for the ships to fire an opening salvo at night, wait for satellites to assess the damage and re-strike any targets that were not destroyed -- a process that could take a few days.

Any strike against Syria, Martin points out, would be designed to convince its dictator, President Bashar Assad, never to use chemical weapons again. But airstrikes never succeeded in changing the behavior of another Mideast dictator -- Iraq's Saddam Hussein -- until he was finally captured and hanged.

View the original article here

Midshipman testifies in Naval Academy sexual assault case

WASHINGTON A midshipman testified Wednesday that she didn't remember being sexually assaulted by three former Navy football players after a night of heavy drinking, but she said one of the men told her she had sex with him and another accused player.

The woman, who is now a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, testified for more than two hours at the Washington Navy Yard at a hearing to determine whether the three midshipmen will face court-martial. She described a night of drinking in her room at the academy with a friend before going to the toga-themed party in April 2012 at an off-campus house in Annapolis, Md.

Play Video

At the crowded party, which took place in what was known as "the football house" because of its association to the team, the woman said she felt "overwhelmed" and "dizzy" from drinking too much.

"I felt like I was going to pass out," she said, noting that she leaned against structural beams in the basement to keep from falling over.

Midshipmen Josh Tate, Eric Graham and Tra'ves Bush are accused of sexually assaulting her.

The woman said she spent the night at the house and woke up the next morning without her phone or purse.

"I was really confused, and I noticed my back was really sore," she said.

Play Video

Play Video

Play Video

She also testified that she had consensual sex that Sunday morning with a student at the house who has not been charged.

The woman described feeling troubled by not remembering what happened and asked Tate, who had initially invited her to the party, to come to her room to see what he knew.

The woman also noticed "lewd comments" on Twitter that seemed directed at her and tagged to people she had slept with in the past. She also testified that rumors had spread rapidly that she had had sex with multiple partners at the party.

When Tate came to her room, she testified that he joked about her not remembering and suggested he refresh her memory.

"He told me that we did have sex," she said.

The woman also said she asked Tate if she had had sex with Graham.

"He said yes, and then I was like, `I don't want to hear anymore,"' she said.

The woman also described being reluctant to seek an investigation at first.

"Mainly, I was scared," she said. "I didn't want to anyone else to get in trouble."

She also said she feared her mother would find out and force her to leave the academy.

The woman said she decided to cooperate after hearing rumors that other people, specifically underclassmen, could be blamed.

Her cooperation with Navy investigators included wiretaps.

On cross-examination, Andrew Weinstein, Bush's attorney, noted that the woman had had a previous sexual relationship with Bush. When asked by Weinstein whether she had ever considered him capable of rape, she said, "I don't think that he would."

She also said, "He wasn't mean to me by any means," during their previous sexual relationship.

The female midshipman also testified that she didn't remember whether she had sex with Bush that night. Weinstein noted that it was Bush who told her he had told Navy investigators that the two had had sex.

Cross-examination was continuing into Wednesday night.

The case has drawn attention as the White House, Congress and the Pentagon have been focusing on the issue of sexual assault after a string of cases in the military this year.

View the original article here

U.S., Russia said to up Naval presence in Gulf region

Updated 6:15 a.m.

WASHINGTON U.S. officials say the Navy is beefing up its presence in the Persian Gulf region, increasing the number of aircraft carriers from one to two.

The USS Harry S Truman has arrived in the Arabian Sea and was scheduled to take the place of the USS Nimitz, which was supposed to head home. The Navy has ordered the Nimitz, which is in the Indian Ocean, to stay for now.

Play Video

This, as the Russian news service Interfax is citing military sources as saying Moscow is dispatching an anti-submarine ship and a cruiser to the Mediterranean. Interfax says the moves are being made due to the "well-known situation" there -- referring to the Syria crisis. But a Russian government news service, Rianovosti, says the reassignments are part of a planned rotation and aren't linked with the situation in Syria.

In addition, Britain's defense ministry said in a statement Thursday that six Royal Air Force "interceptor fast jets are deploying this morning to Akrotiri in Cyprus. This is purely a prudent and precautionary measure to ensure the protection of UK interests and the defensce of our Sovereign Base Areas at a time of heightened tension in the wider region.

"This is a movement of defensive assets operating in an air-to-air role only," the statement continued. "They are not deploying to take part in any military action against Syria. The (prime minister) has made clear no decision has been taken on our response and the gGovernment has said that there will be a Commons vote before direct military involvement."

U.S. officials describe the Pentagon decision as prudent planning and say it doesn't suggest the carrier would play a role in any possible strikes in Syria. The officials were not authorized to discuss ship movements publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Play Video

The U.S. had kept two carriers in the region, but budget cuts in February forced officials to cut to one.

CBS News correspondent David Martin reports two submarines -- one American, one British -- are in the eastern Mediterranean along with four American destroyers and a fifth on the way -- all armed with cruise missiles. That's more than enough firepower for a strike Pentagon officials say would be limited to fewer than 50 targets.

Play Video

Each of the destroyers carries about 40 cruise missiles - a satellite-guided weapon that carries a 1,000-pound warhead, has a range of 1000 miles or more and is accurate to within about 15 feet.

Standard procedure would be for the ships to fire an opening salvo at night, wait for satellites to assess the damage and re-strike any targets that were not destroyed -- a process that could take a few days.

Any strike against Syria, Martin points out, would be designed to convince its dictator, President Bashar Assad, never to use chemical weapons again. But airstrikes never succeeded in changing the behavior of another Mideast dictator -- Iraq's Saddam Hussein -- until he was finally captured and hanged.

View the original article here

Midshipman testifies in Naval Academy sexual assault case

WASHINGTON A midshipman testified Wednesday that she didn't remember being sexually assaulted by three former Navy football players after a night of heavy drinking, but she said one of the men told her she had sex with him and another accused player.

The woman, who is now a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, testified for more than two hours at the Washington Navy Yard at a hearing to determine whether the three midshipmen will face court-martial. She described a night of drinking in her room at the academy with a friend before going to the toga-themed party in April 2012 at an off-campus house in Annapolis, Md.

Play Video

At the crowded party, which took place in what was known as "the football house" because of its association to the team, the woman said she felt "overwhelmed" and "dizzy" from drinking too much.

"I felt like I was going to pass out," she said, noting that she leaned against structural beams in the basement to keep from falling over.

Midshipmen Josh Tate, Eric Graham and Tra'ves Bush are accused of sexually assaulting her.

The woman said she spent the night at the house and woke up the next morning without her phone or purse.

"I was really confused, and I noticed my back was really sore," she said.

Play Video

Play Video

Play Video

She also testified that she had consensual sex that Sunday morning with a student at the house who has not been charged.

The woman described feeling troubled by not remembering what happened and asked Tate, who had initially invited her to the party, to come to her room to see what he knew.

The woman also noticed "lewd comments" on Twitter that seemed directed at her and tagged to people she had slept with in the past. She also testified that rumors had spread rapidly that she had had sex with multiple partners at the party.

When Tate came to her room, she testified that he joked about her not remembering and suggested he refresh her memory.

"He told me that we did have sex," she said.

The woman also said she asked Tate if she had had sex with Graham.

"He said yes, and then I was like, `I don't want to hear anymore,"' she said.

The woman also described being reluctant to seek an investigation at first.

"Mainly, I was scared," she said. "I didn't want to anyone else to get in trouble."

She also said she feared her mother would find out and force her to leave the academy.

The woman said she decided to cooperate after hearing rumors that other people, specifically underclassmen, could be blamed.

Her cooperation with Navy investigators included wiretaps.

On cross-examination, Andrew Weinstein, Bush's attorney, noted that the woman had had a previous sexual relationship with Bush. When asked by Weinstein whether she had ever considered him capable of rape, she said, "I don't think that he would."

She also said, "He wasn't mean to me by any means," during their previous sexual relationship.

The female midshipman also testified that she didn't remember whether she had sex with Bush that night. Weinstein noted that it was Bush who told her he had told Navy investigators that the two had had sex.

Cross-examination was continuing into Wednesday night.

The case has drawn attention as the White House, Congress and the Pentagon have been focusing on the issue of sexual assault after a string of cases in the military this year.

View the original article here