More questionable conduct by General who fired Space Force commander
The general who fired a Space Force commander for trying to rid the military of Marxism was himself castigated by a military judge in an unprecedented order for intentionally violating the constitutional rights of a serviceman.
Last month, Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting of the U.S. Space Command relieved Matthew Lohmeier of his duties overseeing missile defense based on a judgment that informing the public about Marxist ideology in the military was dangerous.
But beginning in 2018, while supervising a military prosecution, Whiting violated the due process and rights to a fair trial of an Air Force engineer on three counts of rape that could have resulted in a lifetime prison sentence, according to court documents.
“This court is left to conclude that the United States of America is neither committed to ensuring the accused gets a fair trial nor taking the steps necessary to provide the accused with the relevant discovery to mount his defense,” wrote Judge W. Shane Cohen in a 13-page opinion dated Aug. 22, 2019. "This court is left with few conclusions other than the United States of America is not serious about meeting its legal obligations even when the law demands it."
Cohen, an esteemed judge who had the 9/11 case on his docket with accused architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, called Whiting out by his title as the person responsible for a situation in which “the government abdicated its obligations to the justice system.”
The judge went as far as saying that reasonable doubt existed regarding Technical Sgt. Keith Snyder's guilt in the case, which is the legal standard for a not guilty verdict.
"The outstanding evidence being sought by the defense is of central importance to mounting the accused’s affirmative defense, attacking the credibility of his three accusers, and demonstrating both his innocence and the reasonable doubt in the government’s case," Cohen wrote.
The charges against Snyder hinged on a spliced covert tape recording from his Florida home created by a woman he had dated, identified as CP in court documents.
The tape is illegal because Florida does not allow recordings without the consent of both parties. CP continuously tried to elicit a response that she was forced to have sex, while Snyder was clearly confused with the situation because they had a continuing sexual relationship, according to a review of the tape by the Washington Examiner.
Additional court evidence showed that CP and two other women were jealous that Snyder did not date them exclusively, and they colluded on social media to file rape reports with the military. The plot was spearheaded by CP, who became enraged after Snyder broke up with her. She went through his social media profiles and contacted dozens of women to vilify Snyder with claims of cheating and in the hope that his children would be taken away from him, evidence showed.
“Just found out he was sleeping with a woman named **** [and] a woman named **** and you during the same time frame,” CP texted to one woman who started their conversation with, “What do you want?”
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This evidence was collected and submitted to the court by Snyder’s attorney, Aaron G. Meyer, who specializes in military cases. The prosecution refused to issue a subpoena to collect the discovery from the women, which led Cohen to take the unusual step of dismissing the case with prejudice — meaning it cannot be filed again.
Throughout the case, CP sent hundreds of texts to Snyder, often creating false identities and using burner phones to strike up new relationships. The messages sent from CP’s regular account were filled with hate and threats that alternated with begging to resume their relationship. In several texts, CP said she would be “laying landmines.” Finally, Snyder obtained a restraining order.
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The judge correctly dismissed the case. It is not clear what Lt. Gen. Whiting was thinking in continuing to pursue a case relying on contrived evidence. This looks like the second situation where he showed poor judgment.
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