U.S. Army V. E-4, (Forcible Rape, Forcible Sodomy, Violations of Article 120, UCMJ)

Fort Riley, Kansas

Client was charged with 1 specification of forcible rape, and one specification of forcible sodomy. This case was extremely difficult. The alleged victim in this case reported her allegation immediately. She told her story immediately. Her story remained consistent, at least to all law enforcement entities. Our Client spoke to CID for at least 2.5 hours, placing himself at the scene, and agreeing to all the physical evidence in the case.

The key issue in this case was determining whether force or consent was present. Both parties agreed that she came to the room to talk about her very recent break up with her boyfriend. Both parties agreed that a belt was used to tie her hands behind her back. Both parties agreed that an exercise belt was used to gag her. Both parties agreed that he ejaculated all over her torso. Both parties agreed that a condom was used. What was in dispute? Whether or not he forced her to be tied up and raped by threatening to use a knife.

The other issue in dispute was who told who to delete text messages. She said he told her to delete text messages. He said she told him. The facts showed that she had her text messages, and that he did not have his.

The government laid out their case rather simply, because in fact, on its face, it looked simple. It was up to the Defense to lay out the context for what happened in this case. First, the alleged victim had a history of lying. She had lied to investigators, and her chain of command during several investigations on her not related to this case. The Defense was able to capitalize on these facts to show that she was a liar. The Defense showed that she used people, including the Client, for her own uses. There were several specific instances where the Client was manipulated unwittingly into doing things that were against his interests.

The Defense also capitalized on the fact that there were rumors surrounding the nature of the relationship between the Client and the complaining witness. The complaining witness had confronted the Client regarding these rumors on several occasions. So, why then was she in the room in the first place? She knew he was a motor mouth, why would she go to the room to talk about her break up with her boyfriend? The Defense showed that she had not had any contact with the Client for at least two months since the last time she confronted him about the rumors.

Finally, the Defense capitalized on the fact that the complaining witness could leg press 480 lbs. She had plenty of opportunities to inflict a tremendous amount of damage upon the Client and she did not do so. To capstone the case, the Defense highlighted the fact that the Client went through a lot of effort to research why women like to be tied up, and how to recover his text messages AFTER the alleged incident occurred and before he was picked up by the authorities. All of those things lead to reasonable doubt. All of those things tend to show consent. Only through thorough investigation and pouring over the facts were Mr. Jordan and his team able to achieve victory on behalf of their Client.

“I retained Mr. Joseph Jordan to defend my son, who was falsely accused of sexual assault. Though his experience, vast knowledge and sincere dedication, Mr. Jordan successfully saved my sons (life) and military
career by achieving a verdict of NOT GUILTY.
It is with great appreciation and respect that I highly recommend Mr. Joseph Jordan, Defense Attorney, he IS the Professional Choice, and our family could never thank him enough.”