Article 32 Report Recommends Dismissal of Charges in Sex Assault Case

An Article 32 investigation report recommended that all charges against an officer be dropped recently because the complaining witness could not recollect any details regarding the alleged assaults. The report also recommended that an aggravated assault be dropped because the alleged victim admitted under cross examination by Mr. Faraj that she instigated the assault and continued to assault the accused until he took limited action to stop her. The report found such actions to be in self defense and justified because the victim herself admitted to becoming aggressive and violent without cause.The Article 32 hearing took place at Camp Lejeune, NC, recently after the victim reported the same allegations to the civilian police. The Jacksonville District Attorney investigated the case and declined to prosecute because he found the evidence lacking and the allegations unsupported. Despite the declination to prosecute, Marine Corps authorities became involved and decided to move forward with the case.After several months of defense investigation and preparation, civilian criminal defense lawyer Haytham Faraj represented the accused officer at the 32 hearing. The alleged victim was cross examined for 6 hours during which Mr. Faraj uncovered numerous substantial inconsistencies in her story and a lack of any specific facts to support the very general allegations.The Article 32 investigating officer recommended all charges be dropped and dismissed.