Court-Martialed USCGA Cadet Loses Another Appeal

Luigi59

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Court-Martialed Cadet Loses Another Appeal

March 31, 2010
Channel 3 Eyewitness News

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The first cadet ever court-martialed at the Coast Guard Academy in New London has lost another appeal.

Cadet Webster Smith has filed a series of appeals since his conviction in 2006. Now, his only hope is to get his case in front of the United States Supreme Court.

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Former USCGA Cadet Webster Smith


The most recent appeal lost by Smith in the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces denied the request for a new trial.

Smith was kicked out of the Coast Guard and served five months in a military prison after being convicted of extortion, sodomy and other charged. Smith was acquitted of the most serious charge, rape.

The allegations he was convicted of were made by a fellow Coast Guard cadet, known to the court as “S.R.”

The judge at Smith’s court-martial would not let his lawyers ask S.R. about her past, even though they said her past sexual relationships could have given her a motive to lie.

Smith appealed and said his constitutional right to confront his accuser had been violated. But, the court of appeals disagreed, saying "further cross-examination of Cadet SR was not 'constitutionally required.'"

Smith received the same response in 2008 from the United States Coast Guard Court of Appeals at a hearing in Virginia attended by Channel 3 Eyewitness News.

Both courts said the judge allowed enough background to give jurors an idea of Cadet S.R.’s past.

The latest opinion said more detail was "neither material nor vital to Smith's defense."

Smith is now married and has a child. After hearing about the court of appeals’ opinion, he wrote on his Web site about still dealing with the weight of his conviction and said, "My goal has always been to rid myself of the weight and fly, but rather, the weight remains. It is as heavy as my heart."

This may not be the end of the road for Smith. His statement is accompanied by a picture of the United States Supreme Court, and in a post attributed to his wife, he said he thinks he has an outside shot of getting the high court to give him another chance to appeal.
 
I wouldn't put too much "hope" into Webster's case going to the Supreme Court.

He knows what he did; it's time for him to move on with his life.
 
omg no more stories about servicemen getting in trouble...rather negative and depressing information :frown:
 
It's a 4 year old story that keeps coming up because of Webster's appeals. Something tells me we've heard the last of it. I can't imagine the Supreme Court would hear a case like this.
 
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