"Female airman charged after refusing to testify in her rape case"

[ceile]

Unbelievable:

"The woman is charged with one count of committing indecent acts and one count of consuming alcohol as a minor. The military declined to identify the men or confirm whether they were ever charged because the case in pending, said base spokesman Ed Drohan."

snip

"If convicted on both counts, the woman could face up to a year in jail, reduction in rank, a cut in pay in allowances, a possible bad conduct discharge and registration as a sex offender, her defense lawyers said. Drohan said he didn't know the maximum sentence."

snip

"In her letter, the woman said she was partially clothed when she fled the room May 13, 2006. She said she reported the incident and was given a medical examination.

She said the three male airmen were charged with rape, but the charges were dropped after she refused to testify."

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/NC_Air_Force_Rape.html?COXnetJSessionIDbuild44=5bclG4BRSC2qTd9hJJ51QypjsWcPf2ZL51sgQS9bFJBjqKYGjrXv!-872241344&UrAuth=`NYNUOcN

[Lance_Boyle]

1. why in the hell would she refuse to testify?

not going to register to be able to RTFA, but the snippets above leave that lingering question.

Anyone have a no-reg-required link to this story?

[ceile]

2. Her reason:

"'The pressure of the judicial process was too much for me, and I felt like no one was looking out for my interests,' the woman wrote."

She was also interviewed by the defense without her advocate present, so I can see why she'd feel that way.

[Lance_Boyle]

3. hard to formulate an opinion without the full story

Is there no source for this story that doesn't require registration?

That said, "I didn't realize it would be so hard when I first filed charges" does not garner much sympathy from me for this airman backing out on her obligation to testify in order to make sure those charges are aired in court. And THAT said, from the scant details I've seen, it might appear that she's being prosecuted in retaliation. Would've been better to compel her testimony in the original case than to retaliate.