18 May 2019, U.S. v. E-7, United States Army, Fort Benning, GA (Sex Assault and Domestic Violence):
SFC’s spouse accuses him of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse after he finds out that she was having an affair. The SFC is FLAGGED, bared from promotion, removed from his primary duties, and told that the Government may court-martial him and take his retirement after 18 years of dedicated service and several combat deployments. The SFC hires Mr. Capovilla who immediately assigs one of the firms investigators to the case to find out the truth. After conducting several interviews, Mr. Capovilla discovers that the spouse was indeed involved in an adulterous relationship and that her own children believe she hurt herself to make it look like the SFC had hit her. Several of the witnesses affirm that the SFC was not even with his spouse at the time that she was injured. Mr. Capovilla discusses the case with the SFC dozens of times and even files an Article 138 Claim against the SFC’s command for not releasing relevant information. After nearly 7 months of investigation, the military dismisses the charges and does not prosecute the SFC.
RESULT: No court-martial. No jail time. No sex offender registration. No separation board. No Article 15. The SFC is set to retire next year with all of his benefits intact.
17 May 2019, U.S. v. E-5, United States Air Force, Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV (Sex Assault and Abusive Sexual Contact):
SSgt Airmen is notified that he is under investigation for abusive sexual contact and possible sexual assault. The SSgt decides to retain Mr. Robert Capovilla to represent him during the investigation and possible court-martial. Mr. Capovilla speaks with the SSgt over 20 times on the phone, conducts several conference calls with him, interviews witnesses, and assigns one of the firms investigators to the case all before the Government finishes their investigation. Mr. Capovilla informs the SSgt there are serious problems with the Government’s case and he finds out that two of the Government’s most important witnesses will testify that the complaining witnesses story is not accurate and that their memory of events is very different than the complaining witnesses version of events. After extensive preparation and several discussions with the military prosecutor, the Government decides to dismiss the charges and not prosecute the SSgt.
RESULT: No court-martial. No jail time. No sex offender registration. No federal conviction.
2 May 2019, U.S. v. E-4, United States Army, Fort Bragg, North Carolina (Indecent Viewing).
Army Specialist is under investigation for 6 months for allegedly video recording a female in the act of consensual sex. The Specialists command informs him that they will court-martial him before his ETS date. The Specialist hires Robert Capovilla to represent him. The first thing Mr. Capovilla does is assign one of the firms investigators to find out what really happened in this case. After speaking with 8 different witnesses, Mr. Capovilla finds out that the Government’s case is weak and that they don’t have a good reason to extend the Specialist beyond his ETS date. After several different conversations with the military prosecutor, the military decides to drop the case against the Specialist, lift his FLAG, and allow him to ETS without court-martialing him or separating him.
RESULT: No court-martial. No jail time. No Article 15. All charges dropped. No reduction in rank. The Specialist will leave the Army with an honorable discharge.