Jeffrey Krusinski, Acquitted
The Washington Post reports that Air Force, LTC Jeffrey Krusinski, the former head of the Pentagon’s sexual assault prevention program, was acquitted of assaulting a young woman outside of a Crystal City bar several weeks back;
Barry Coburn, Krusinski’s attorney, highlighted what he called inconsistencies in the woman’s account of a fracas after the alleged grab, and said those were enough to give jurors reasonable doubt. He hinted that Krusinski might have grazed the woman by accident on a narrow sidewalk.
On Tuesday, the woman, a 23-year-old American University graduate, testified emotionally about the encounter with Krusinski, saying she felt “totally violated.” She said she was on the phone with a friend outside Freddie’s Beach Bar when Krusinski came up behind her, gave her behind a “squeeze,” and “asked me if I liked it.”
The woman said she followed Krusinksi and confronted him, pushing and punching him in the face.
A server from the bar testified that she too was groped by Krusinski that night, along with one of her co-workers.
That seems pretty cut and dried, but he was acquitted nonetheless. By a civilian jury. So, if there’s a problem with the people being punished for sexual assault, the problem doesn’t seem to be a strictly military problem, as the media would have us believe. Congress wants more control over the outcome of these cases regarding the application of the UCMJ, but it seems to me that, since this guy was acquitted in a civilian trial, the problem is with the justice system and not strictly a military issue.
Category: Military issues
Said yours truly here when this story broke in May, “What the hell, I’ll say it: I wasn’t there and the arrest was based on a complaint that may or may not be valid. I’ll wait and hope for the best. (Duke Lacrosse)”
Am I clairvoyant? Hell no, but I’ve been around the block a few times and learned nNever, ever to draw a conclusion based on a complaint.
Innocent until PROVEN guilty.
Quite simply, the government failed to prove guilt.
OTOH, having been found innocent, he will nevertheless be punished by the Military. His career is over. His position has been removed from him. The only question is whether or not he’ll be “allowed” to retire, if so at his highest rank, or if he’ll be forced out with no compensation for the years he devoted in service to his country.
As Cav says, we weren’t there, nor did we hear all the evidence. The jury that did found the evidence lacking. Hence, we should respect their finding.
Oh, for pete’s sake, put him a narrow alley with no outlet and let the women who claim he groped them pound the crap out of him.
Cut and dried except for no witnesses which turned it into a “he said – she said” thing. That and the physical assault where she followed him and punched him in the face.
Why did the police not arrest her?
Even if it did happen and we will never know, she got pinched on the ass and hysterically claimed she felt “totally violated”. Huh?
What do you want to bet she is an OWS, anti-war/military pos?
@ Ex-PH2: from the pictures of him following the arrest, I think the girl already beat the crap out of him. So the jury’s ruling could also be them saying that him getting the crap beat out of him was punishment enough.
Jon: He was the head of the Air Force sexual assault program, not DoD’s.
My second point was to John, not Jon.
But to Jon: Since he wasn’t in uniform, how would she have known at the time that he was military? I’d cut her some slack on that part.
He’s a White Male, thus he’s guilty in every liberal’s view regardless of his being acquitted! I wonder what the next chapter of this witch hunt will look like, they’ve already crushed his Military Career!
Having just sat on a jury for a sex assault Courts Martial, I can say it’s never cut and dry. The one I was on, the victim was a horrible witness, was shown to lie, and had a lot to lose for having an indiscretion her husband’s family was rich and connected). The defense brought in an expert witness who showed, scientifically, how her story of going from passed-out drunk to totally perky in 90 minutes was not possible. Also, there was no way this less than fit guy could have drunkenly carried her not-so-small body into the garage without waking his sleeping wife. Nor could she have “woken up” from being “passed out” standing and walking. We unanimously acquitted him of rape and forceable sodomy, but guilty on adultery and giving alcohol to a minor. Of course it didn’t help that the prosecution was a complete incompetent and a jerk to the jury. (Not saying that swayed our decision, because it didn’t). His co-counsel actually mouthed “dirtbag” to us while the accused was reading his unsworn statement. Even our command’s legal man, after reading the transcript, said he would have acquitted. Then we found out last week, he was arrested and was in the brig for the exact same thing, giving alcohol to a minor and rape. All it takes is reasonable doubt. The defense doesn’t have to prove anything, just poke holes in the prosecution’s argument.
I found, long ago, that when some sailor got smart and tried to get something he wasn’t entitled to, responses like ‘amateur’, ‘lousy lay’, ‘I’ve had better’ were sufficient to put a stop to it.
I’ve also wondered, occasionally, if those men who were so thoroughly obnoxious toward women in the military were actually mysoginistic gay guys trying to hide it by being over-the-top about sex and doing a lot of grab-ass.
But since that DADT stuff was cancelled, the lack of common sense and decent manners seems to have weeded out the jackasses from the good guys, and the jackasses are what’s left at the top echelons, making them senior jackasses.
So Krusinski got beat up by a girl for being a jackass. (I forgot about that part.) Fine with me. I wonder if he learned anything from it.
If not, may he have bladder stones the size of walnuts for the rest of his natural life.
Freddies is a gay bar. Not sure how much that adds to the story but it is kinda curious. Perhaps the good Colonel should work on his target acquisition in the future. He may not have had the necessary equipment for this lady to be interested in his advances even if he went about it in a not creeper way.
Ooh, smoke-check — do tell!
PH: those tactics you’ve found to be effective, have been used by other females to defame those they don’t like, and superiors who have disciplined them.
Is it not just as wrong for a female to spread false rumors of sexual encounter, as it is for a male to do so?
25% of allegations of sexual misconduct are found to not only be unsubstantiated, but actually false.
25% result in findings of guilt.
The 50% in the middle are murkier, with insufficient evidence and the plaintiff refusing to testify or pursue prosecution.
The bottom line is that if we are going to remove doubt in the minds of jurors, we must put an end to false accusations. To put an end to that, we must prosecute those that make the false accusations. We MUST put an end to EO complaints being used as a way to get out of trouble. And we must stop punishing those that are found innocent.
An allegation found to lack merit should NOT kill a career. Conversely, those found guilty of rape should find no mercy.
It’ll be interesting to see what (if anything) the AF does with him. My experience with admin separations was in the Army; the Army’s regulation specifically prohibit involuntarily separating someone for conduct that was the subject of an acquittal in a criminal trial. If the AF has something similar, he may at least make it to retirement. His upward mobility is shot, in any case.
MrBill: he could still be in hot water, career-wise. And he could still be looking at an involuntary separation.
While the AF probably can’t separate him for the allegations for which he was tried and acquitted based on the acquittal, other wrongdoing on his part uncovered during the investigation and/or trial would likely still be fair game. At a minimum, there’s credible evidence (based on the server’s testimony, and possibly that of the bartender) that he was drunk and disorderly in public. Last time I checked, most of the military services rather frowned on that type of behavior among senior officers.
Whether that would be enough for the USAF to go after him is a good question. But given today’s political climate and the ongoing drawdown, if he hasn’t made sanctuary (18 years) IMO there’s a fair chance he won’t make it to retirement.
The man needs to start working on his resume.