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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Tue May 7, 2013, 03:37 PM May 2013

VA Prosecutors Not Handing Over Case Of Air Force Officer To Military Authorities

PEMA LEVY 2:53 PM EDT, TUESDAY MAY 7, 2013

Prosecutors in Arlington, Va., will not hand over the case of Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, the Air Force official charged with sexual assault over the weekend, meaning he could be prosecuted in both military and civilian courts, Politico reported Tuesday.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stevens told POLITICO on Tuesday afternoon that she’d received the Air Force’s request to hand over the prosecution of Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, but Stevens said she had told Air Force officials that she would continue to pursue her own case against him. If the service also wants to try to prosecute him on its own, it could.

The fact that Krusinski served as the head of the Air Force's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit has brought national attention to the case as well as the epidemic of sexual assault in the Air Force and military more broadly.

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http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/va-prosecutors-not-handing-over-case-of-air

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VA Prosecutors Not Handing Over Case Of Air Force Officer To Military Authorities (Original Post) DonViejo May 2013 OP
Good. Raine1967 May 2013 #1
+1 pinboy3niner May 2013 #4
Yup... Raine1967 May 2013 #6
Let's hope he receives a fair hearing before a jury of his peers before he is incarcerated for Vincardog May 2013 #8
That booking photo struck me, too pinboy3niner May 2013 #9
Excellent atreides1 May 2013 #2
GOOD! hootinholler May 2013 #3
good n/t maddezmom May 2013 #5
I agree with the idea of having civilian tribunals handling these cases justiceischeap May 2013 #7
Local reporting from the Arlington Patch has interesting details: Raine1967 May 2013 #10
That's the only way to do this right. Baitball Blogger May 2013 #11

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
1. Good.
Tue May 7, 2013, 03:47 PM
May 2013

Considering how badly the military handles sexual assault cases I say good.

He did this to a woman - a civilian woman -- he should be treated as a civilian.


I live about 10 minutes from where this assault happened. I am 99% sure I know what parking lot it occurred in as well. I hope he goes away for a long time for this.

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
6. Yup...
Tue May 7, 2013, 04:10 PM
May 2013

I'm waiting for more details, but looking at the way he looked in his arrest photo, the woman knew how to take care of herself.

Vincardog

(20,234 posts)
8. Let's hope he receives a fair hearing before a jury of his peers before he is incarcerated for
Tue May 7, 2013, 04:15 PM
May 2013

The rest of time

pinboy3niner

(53,339 posts)
9. That booking photo struck me, too
Tue May 7, 2013, 04:18 PM
May 2013

As it looks like he was struck by a person defending herself against his assault. Good for her!

justiceischeap

(14,040 posts)
7. I agree with the idea of having civilian tribunals handling these cases
Tue May 7, 2013, 04:15 PM
May 2013

I don't think the military is in a place right now to police itself on this matter.

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
10. Local reporting from the Arlington Patch has interesting details:
Tue May 7, 2013, 05:24 PM
May 2013
http://arlington-va.patch.com/articles/sexual-battery-case-against-air-force-colonel-will-be-prosecuted-in-arlington

Gen. Mark Walsh, Air Force Chief of Staff, told U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine on Tuesday that an area Judge Advocate General's office had requested local prosecutors transfer jurisdiction over the case to the military.

Commonwealth's Attorney Theo Stamos, in a phone interview with Patch, said she spoke with Air Force officials on Tuesday and told them that wasn't going to happen.

"It's our prosecution. He's been charged. We have an arraignment set. Our victims services people have reached out to the victim. I don't know why we'd do that," Stamos said.

"It wasn't like it occurred on a military base. It occurred in a civilian setting."

After hearing about the JAG request, Kaine told Air Force officials that prosecutors would have to weigh whether the victim and the accused would receive a fair trial by the military. {snip}

"One of the issues that seems to come up routinely is this belief that the military does not prosecute as much as a local jurisdiction might," Walsh said, according to video of the hearing distributed by Kaine's office.

"The idea that we don't prosecute shouldn't be a concern of the local prosecutor. The idea that we don't convict shouldn't be a concern of (hers), if we can ensure they all have the facts."

Kaine responded: "Arlington is a pro-military community, so it's not going to be a hostile environment. These are the kinds of things that prosecutors wrestle with."
Why the hell is the military trying to run roughshod over the county prosecutors?

This sorta pisses me off.




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