ATTORNEYS PUT NCIS ON TRIAL IN BONHOMME RICHARD FIRE CASE
September 26, 2022 ·Tom Wyatt
SAN DIEGO — Seaman Recruit Ryan Mays began his case against investigators who blame the US Navy sailor for sparking the 2020 blaze that destroyed the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard.
On Friday, Sept. 23, the prosecution rested its case against the 21-year-old sailor, and court watchers got a taste of what’s likely to become a cornerstone of the defense team’s tactics in this, the second week of Mays’ court-martial trial here.
Defense attorneys pounced on the words of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent who led the probe into a fire that caused $1.2 billion in damages to the warship. They accused him of a rush to justice, targeting Mays from the beginning in a biased investigation that landed him a convenient scapegoat.
“I didn’t even know who Seaman Recruit Mays was at the time,” Special Agent Albert Porter told the courtroom, adding that “facts drove the train.”
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