Military members heading for a court martial can expect the CA will throw as many other charges into the trial as they can find. This tactic is called “stacking charges” or “file loading.”
Military members can also expect the military will put unlimited resources to bear to investigate the accused for whatever they can find. Any conviction at a court martial is considered a felony conviction. For example; if a military member is convicted of both murder, and jay-walking at a General Court Martial (GCM), the accused will automatically have two felonies on their record.
If, as a young officer, you fall in love with an enlisted woman and, God forbid, fraternize with her, a general officer can convene a court and get you convicted of fraternizing. You don’t necessarily have to have sex with her to have violated military law. You may have saw her at the bar off base and bought her drink or called her by her first name… that’s called fraternization (AKA: dating).
One count of fraternization is good for two years in a federal penitentiary and a felony conviction. Don’t think for a moment, “That never happens.” In 1986, a naval officer in the reserves was sent to general court martial and thrown out of the Navy with a dishonorable discharge and felony conviction for making love to a woman.
In the case of Marine Colonel Daniel H. Wilson, his court martial began with twenty-seven (27) charges, and seven of his convictions had nothing at all to do with the original charges that led to a general court martial. He has a felony conviction for sending a prank email to a subordinate.
It is outrageous that the military can spend months conducting “witch-hunts” – 14 months in Col. Wilson’s case – and all they end up with are minor convictions, completely unrelated to the original charges. It is blatant fraud, waste, and abuse of government resources and personnel.
Big government has an unlimited budget to investigate. In Colonel Wilson’s case 2 – 3 million dollars were spent to investigate his case. The dirty tactics they used in the Colonel Wilson witch-hunt were dishonorable in and of themselves.
For those who do not know or remember, Colonel Daniel H. Wilson was sent to prison for three years on evidence the appeals court said was inadequate to convict anyone. He is writing a book describing his professional demise called, “A Jury of Cowards.”
File loading is a very effective tactic used by military prosecutors to ensure they, not only achieve a conviction, but the extra charges tend to ensure the punishment is much more than should have been rendered. American military prosecutors know how to make a war hero look like Jack the Ripper, all in an effort to ensure the convening authorities receive their pound of flesh.
MORE TO COME…