The Navy’s top lawyer stands accused of unlawfully meddling in criminal cases targeting America’s elite commandos, and that includes being grilled by attorneys seeking to overturn the rape conviction of a Coronado-based Navy SEAL who had been deemed not guilty by his admiral and other officers.
Legal experts consulted by The San Diego Union-Tribune agreed that the allegations swirling around Vice Adm. James Crawford III, the Navy’s judge advocate general, are highly irregular. As prime evidence, they pointed to his being deposed this week in Washington, D.C., in the SEAL rape case. Crawford was unable to recall key details about the case, which he’s accused of illegally influencing, according to one of the lawyers who questioned him.
Crawford has repeatedly declined to comment for stories regarding the case after a military appellate court began investigating the claims of his intervention.
That case involves an ongoing appellate hearing for Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Keith Barry, who was court-martialed and convicted of rape in San Diego in 2015. He received a sentence of three years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. He has completed his prison term and left the Navy SEALs, but is appealing his conviction in hopes of restoring his reputation.
Barry’s appeal gained national attention when the admiral in charge of validating or reversing his rape conviction made a stunning declaration: Retired Rear Adm. Patrick Lorge, former commander of the San Diego-based Navy Region Southwest, alleged that he wanted to overturn Barry’s verdict because it lacked sufficient evidence — but didn’t do so partly because of pressure from Crawford.
Lorge claimed that Crawford encouraged him to let Barry go to prison partly to help preserve the Navy’s reputation and appease the Obama administration and congressional critics of the military justice system. Crawford believed the military needed to project a tougher image in the fight against sexual assault and warned that a clemency decision would hurt Lorge’s Navy career, Lorge alleged.
“The Barry case has been forwarded to a new convening authority, senior to the original convening authority, and the fact-finding process is underway,” said Patricia Babb, spokeswoman for the Office of the Judge Advocate General. “The Navy remains, as always, dedicated to pursuing justice in a fair and impartial system. To preserve the integrity of that process, the Navy will not comment further on the case.”
Barry appellate attorney David Sheldon said Crawford has confirmed that he discussed the case with Lorge. Crawford also disclosed the existence of documents and messages exchanged at the highest levels of the Navy about Barry, Sheldon added.
A key hearing in the appellate process is slated for Aug. 18. That session will likely pave the way for a lengthier court investigation into the credibility of Crawford and other high-ranking officials tied to this case.
Crawford’s unusual deposition came amid new accusations that he injected himself into another San Diego case, this one stemming from the May 6, 2016 pool drowning of Seaman James Derek Lovelace during initial SEAL training.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/military/
