Court-Martial For Air Force Training Instructor

As the court-martial for the Air Force training instructor commences along with the massive media coverage, I am reminded by two other cases involving sexual assault allegations, the Duke Lacrosse team case and the Dominique Staruss Kahn case. In both of those cases, the allegations were completely fabricated. Yet at the outset, everyone believed the so called victims as they perfectly embraced victimhood surrounded by a sympathetic population fueled by a frenzied media hungry for a sensational story. Before people rush to judgement and convict the Defendant in this case, perhaps people will remember other tragic prosecutions of the innocent. The two cases of false and malicious prosecution mentioned here caught the attention of the world because of the subjects involved. What of the countless thousands who are not well known and do not have powerful legal teams fighting for them to uncover the lies? The Air Force training instructor may be guilty but he could well be innocent. He deserves the benefit of the doubt that is afforded to every citizen in a criminal prosecution. Haytham Faraj is a Chicago criminal defense attorney and former Marine with extensive experience defending military personnel accused of violating the UCMJ.