Lawyer picked to prosecute Army sexual assault is fired over an old email doubting victims' claims [View all]

Source: Associated Press

Lawyer picked to prosecute Army sexual assault is fired over an old email doubting victims’ claims

BY LOLITA C. BALDOR
Updated 6:50 PM EST, December 5, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — The lawyer selected to be the Army’s first top prosecutor of sexual assaults under an overhaul of the military justice system has been fired because of an email he sent 10 years ago appearing to belittle victims’ assault allegations.

Brig. Gen. Warren Wells was removed from the job on Friday by Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, just hours after she was given the email.

Wells was the Army’s new lead special trial counsel for cases involving sexual assault and other top crimes — a job created as part of Congress’ push to revamp a military justice system it believed could be overly deferential to service members accused of sexual misconduct. The office was expected to begin work around the end of the year.

In the email, sent to a number of his staff members in June 2013, Wells complained about what he said were false allegations by some alleged victims, pointing to the firing of an Army two-star general in Japan for failing to properly investigate a sexual assault charge in his command.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/army-lawyer-fired-email-sexual-assaults-f35d9ffe85b7d047a8a6d29a223030f4