Army names special prosecutors for assault cases

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Army names special prosecutors for assault cases
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, January 28, 2009

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Army Judge Advocate General Corps is adding 15 special prosecutors to focus on sexual assault cases, marking the first time it has hired prosecutors for a specific crime, said Lt. Gen. Scott Black, U.S. Army judge advocate general.

The prosecutors will both try sexual assault cases and train the other 350 prosecutors in the JAG corps on handling such cases, Black told reporters on Monday. They will be assigned to the Army’s busiest jurisdictions, such as forts Bragg and Hood.

Until now, Army JAG Corps lawyers have been generalists, not specialisits, he said.

“We train everyone to a baseline level for prosecution purposes, and that includes sexual assault cases,” he said.

The Army announced this and other moves Monday to curb sexual harassment, shortly after Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey would continue to emphasize sexual assault prevention.


Rest of article at; http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60280