Court Martial Attorney – Army officer stripped of rank
HANK SCHOUTEN – The Dominion Post
A high-flying army officer, who has been stripped of his rank for indecently assaulting a female officer, may now face trial on another charge.
Allan David Kinsella, 37, was reduced in rank from lieutenant colonel to major and severely reprimanded by a court martial at Trentham military base yesterday.
His pay will be cut from about $120,000 to $90,000 a year following his loss of rank.
He could also face another court martial. The military is considering whether to proceed on another complaint but has not yet formally laid charges.
Kinsella was sentenced after a four-day military trial found him guilty of indecent assault but not guilty of disgraceful and indecent behaviour.
The charges date back to March 2007 when Kinsella was a chief tactics instructor at the Waiouru army base. The female officer, who was engaged to a close friend of Kinsella, was attending a course at the base.
She gave evidence that after drinking together in the Waiouru officers’ mess, Kinsella came into her room uninvited as she prepared to go to bed, made advances to her, attempted to kiss her and exposed himself after she fended him off. Kinsella then told her: “No one needs to know, get into bed. I’ll do the work and you’ll enjoy it.”
Kinsella said the woman invited him to her room for sex and they kissed before she changed her mind. He denied exposing himself in front of her.
Colonel Rob Hitchings, who presided over the five-member court martial board, said Kinsella’s actions were a grave breach of trust and showed a significant lack of judgment.
The board acknowledged his impeccable service career but said his conduct was unacceptable.
Kinsella’s army career was described as being studded with outstanding achievements. Since signing up in 1990 he had served in Sierra Leone and East Timor, and four years ago was selected as distinguished master strategist at the US Army’s Command and Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, ahead of nearly 1000 American officers and 100 from other countries.
He was nominated as the 2005-06 young executive of the year and had been considered as a likely candidate for command of the army’s artillery regiment.
Prosecutor Craig Ruane said the offence was aggravated by the disparity in ranks between Kinsella and his victim, the breach of the instructor-student relationship and the fact she was engaged to a fellow officer on operations overseas at the time.
Defence lawyer Tom Gilbert said Kinsella had never denied what he did was morally and ethically wrong. His actions had had a devastating social effect.
He asked the court to show compassion for a man who had served his country, saying the military owed it to Kinsella not to throw him on the trash heap.
MARTIAL LAW
* Allan David Kinsella was tried by court martial on a charge of indecent assault.
* The offence carries a maximum penalty of up to seven years’ imprisonment – also the maximum penalty in a criminal court.
* Unlike in a criminal court, Kinsella is also liable to other penalties ranging from loss of seniority in rank, reduction in rank – meaning less pay – or dismissal from the service.
* If dismissed he would also have lost government contributions to his superannuation, estimated to be more than $700,000 over his lifetime.
Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer – court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States. military-defense-lawyer-recentcases.htm.
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