Venable partner and retired Navy Rear Admiral Jamie Barnett’s pro bono representation of an Army captain who accused Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair of sexual assault was featured in multiple publications. General Sinclair pleaded guilty to lesser charges in a deal accepted by a military judge on Monday with sentencing expected later today. As part of the deal, the Army dropped the more severe violence related charge in exchange for an admission of guilt to several lesser charges. Coverage of the court martial continued in the New York Times on March 17, 2014 and the Fayetteville Observer on March 19.
“I think she is feeling good about what has happened in court so far and is ready for the judge's sentencing tomorrow,” Admiral Barnett told the Fayetteville Observer. “In talking with her, she's told me that no sentence is going to restore to her what Gen. Sinclair took away from her. And so she is not focused on that… She's more focused on the fact that she got to speak the truth about what had happened to her in open court, and that he is being held accountable.”
In addition to Admiral Barnett, partner Becky Pearson, a former Air Force Judge Advocate, provided counsel along with Army Captain Cassie Fowler of the Army’s Special Victims Counsel program.
“I think she is feeling good about what has happened in court so far and is ready for the judge's sentencing tomorrow,” Admiral Barnett told the Fayetteville Observer. “In talking with her, she's told me that no sentence is going to restore to her what Gen. Sinclair took away from her. And so she is not focused on that… She's more focused on the fact that she got to speak the truth about what had happened to her in open court, and that he is being held accountable.”
In addition to Admiral Barnett, partner Becky Pearson, a former Air Force Judge Advocate, provided counsel along with Army Captain Cassie Fowler of the Army’s Special Victims Counsel program.