January 12, 2004
Conference Room, NAVFOREUR – London, England
0754 Greenwich/ 1254 Eastern
Admiral Morris sat patiently, watching as the NCIS agent who had conducted much of the initial investigation handed over his evidence. The agent was thoroughly prepared and had made three copies of everything, so that both sides could have the documents as well as the Admiral. He also had copies of the additional reports compiled by other NCIS agents who had handled other parts of the investigation. It was only after the agent was finished and then left the room that the trio of officers began reading.
Flanking the Admiral were the assigned defense counsel and prosecuting attorney. The duo had finally resorted to flipping a coin to decide which one got which side. Lieutenant Colonel Max Coffman had been the loser and ended up as the defense, while Commander Lynn Alexander would be prosecuting. Under normal circumstances, each of them would have retired to separate offices to go over the files and begin preparing their sides of the arguments to be made before the judge at the Article 32. However, office space was at something of a premium at the moment and therefore the conference room was the only space available for their use, other than an actual court room.
This wasn't much of a problem, since it was easy for one side to take one end of the table and the other would therefore be all the way down the table. Beside, Colonel Coffman would be leaving in an hour or two anyways. Once he'd read through the evidence, he was going out to see his client and talk with her. Just the evidence rarely told the entire story, in his opinion, and for an officer of her length of service, something else had to be involved for her to have done what was alleged. Or at least he hoped so.
For her part, Commander Alexander was fighting the urge to shake her head in disbelief. The interviews and witness statements just confounded her, reading like a bad movie. The classic woman rejected who decides to get revenge. Unfortunately for her, that plan was discovered and was also punishable under the UCMJ. Just off the top of her head, she could see violations of Articles 92, 98 and 134. Going for charges under Articles 120a and 127 would be a stretch, but she would have to do more thinking about that before she decided.
FJA Office – London, England
1142 Greenwich/ 1642 Eastern
A knock at the door brought Harm's head up. The files never seemed to stop coming, as every time he'd emptied the IN tray Simpkins was there with another stack. A tiny part of him wondered if this was just a sadistic joke being played on him by the enlisted staff, much like the new kid in school gets hazed, even though he knew it wasn't.
"Enter," he shouted.
A trim brunette of around 40 walked up and braced before his desk. Harm had never seen her before, but after taking in the three rings of a Commander and the mill-rind he was certain this was one of the officers sent over about the Krennick mess.
"Captain Rabb, my name is Commander Alexander. I've been assigned the prosecution in the Krennick Article 32 hearing," she said in a surprisingly deep voice.
"Commander, please sit down and tell me how I can help you today?"
"Well, you are the bulk of the case, so I wanted to talk to you myself, Sir. Hear your side of the story for myself."
"Where would you like me to begin?" Harm asked.
"Where else, Sir. Begin at the beginning. When was the first time you met Captain Krennick?" Commander Alexander asked, turning on her tape recorder.
"Spring of 1996. She was assigned as the prosecutor in a trial I was the defense counsel for," Harm began.
Commander Alexander took Harm through the history of his relationship with Alison, going back over the same ground multiple times. She was listening for any change in the story, any suddenly remembered details that didn't mesh with the original version, anything that just said he was lying. Yet, the story never changed, nor became more vivid. It just was what it had been. Once that was done, it was time for her to dig in. Stopping the recorder, she changed tapes and carefully marked the one she had removed.
"Now comes the big question, Captain," she said, looking him in the eye.
"Let me guess. 'Why didn't you report her back then?'" Harm said. "I've thought about that a lot, both back then and now. For the most part it was the macho image, the naval aviator of fame and legend. Shoots down Migs in the air while having pretty women falling all over him when he's on the ground, the whole Hollywood deal. The myth became the reality, so much so that any unmarried fighter pilot refusing an attractive woman became instantly suspected of being gay."
The Commander winced at the image being drawn in her mind, that of a man trapped between two nasty choices.
"Yep. I had three options, in my mind. I could give in and sleep with her, risking charges of fraternization. I could report her, which would have hung a label of "homosexual" around my neck and probably seen my career ended. Or, I could do what I did, throw her as many red lights as I possibly could and pray that she'd give up. The day I went into JAG HQ and found out she was gone, I almost jumped for joy."
"And when was that?"
"Summer of 1997," Harm answered.
"Had you had any contact with Captain Krennick in the years since?" Commander Alexander asked.
"None until I reported for duty here last week."
"So, what made her think that the…no, that's a question I need to ask her, not you. Captain, thank you for your time. If I come up with any other questions, I'll be back to see you."
Harm silently watched her put the tape recorder away before standing and leaving the office. Once she was gone, he took a moment to close his eyes and sigh. Why couldn't Alison have just stopped? Did she really think that he was going to cheat on his wife with her, that after all of the red lights back then, he was going to change his mind and say yes?
RAF West Ruislip – England
1311 Greenwich/ 1811
Colonel Coffman was beginning to regret this whole visit. Mistake number one, in his running count, was that he'd not bothered to stop for lunch before coming out here. Mistake number two had been mentioning the fact that he hadn't eaten yet to his client, with the third mistake being agreeing to have lunch with her. This had forced him to share a small table at the local pub, which she had insisted on going to. Captain Krennick had also made certain to order drinks with lunch, even knowing that he was here on duty.
Given the nature of the evidence compiled against her, Coffman was reluctant to get into the case in a public venue. This forced the pair to make mindless chitchat before and during lunch, extending into after as Alison just sat there drinking her second drink. Coffman tried to ignore the closeness of his client and the thigh pressing against his, stoically waiting for her to finish so they could go find someplace for him to interview her and talk about the hearing.
For her part, Alison was getting annoyed. She'd purposely chosen a small table to sit close to the Colonel, she'd deliberately gotten drinks and the bodily contact was supposed to be a signal that she was interested, yet he simply sat there. What was it about male Navy lawyers, were they castrated when they graduated from NJS or something. Weren't there any real men left?
Finally, seeing that she wasn't getting anywhere, Alison stood from the table and walked towards the door. Coffman hurriedly paid the bill and followed her. As they left the pub, he kept looking for a location where they could have their talk, anywhere other than the VOQ. He finally saw it just before they reached Alison's quarters. There was a small legal services office across the street. Pointing in that direction, he led the way over there and walked in.
"Good afternoon, Sir. How may we help you?" asked a young legalman second.
"I'm Colonel Coffman. I was wondering if you happened to have a room I could use, so that I could speak with my client somewhere privately."
"Yes, Sir. We have an interview room that is available. If I could just see your IDs for the log, Sir."
Both Coffman and Alison produced their ID cards and watched as a log sheet was updated with their names and ranks, then the legalman showed them to the room and left them. The pair sat down on opposite sides of the table, then Coffman opened his briefcase and removed the files.
"So, Captain. Can you give me your version of the events surrounding this case?"
"Unfortunately, I don't know what the case is. All I was told was that I was being investigated on charges preferred by the JAG and that I would be apprised of the specifics by counsel," Allison responded.
"Alright, let's try this. The evidence that has been presented to me against you is that you accessed the personnel records of a half-dozen active duty, reserve and retired personnel. That you had no reasonable need to access those records. That subsequent to your access of those records, you then accessed public records involving information you could only have gotten via those personnel records. Additionally, in the case of two of the files that you accessed, BUPERS had been instructed to refuse access without a waiver from the classifying authority. Because you accessed those records without contacting BUPERS, you were not given that waiver. In respect to that evidence, if I was the prosecutor, I would charge you with violating Articles 92, 98 and 134."
"In what respect, Colonel?" Allison asked sweetly.
"With respect to Articles 92 and 98, that you didn't follow established procedure and contact BUPERS for the requested information. The backchannel you used was reserved for emergency situations, where nobody is on duty at BUPERS and the information is needed immediately. Given that the situation wasn't urgent, you should have either called BUPERS at the time of your request or if they were closed, waited until the following day. If you had followed procedure, you would have been informed of the order refusing access to certain files you accessed," Colonel Coffman told her.
"But if the person whose information is being requested is the subject of a JAGMAN investigation, wouldn't that make getting the information potentially urgent?"
"That line of reasoning raises a very large question: who ordered the JAGMAN investigation? Captain Rabb does not report to you, he reports to COMNAVEUR and to the JAG. So, which of those two offices ordered you to launch an investigation, Captain?" After a pause to give Alison as chance to answer, the Colonel continued. "I'll assume that to mean no one gave that order. So, if there was no official investigation, then how could there have been any urgency to the request. Furthermore, for an investigation, there would have to be charges of some form. What would those charges have been, that you were investigating?"
"Possible fraternization between then Lieutenant Commander Rabb and Lieutenant Pike, between Rabb and Lieutenant Austin and between Rabb and Major MacKenzie," Alison told him.
"And what preliminary evidence did you have upon which to base those charges?" Coffman asked, leaning forward in his seat. "Before you began going through those individuals personnel records as well as other documents."
"I had heard a rumor that Rabb and Pike had had a sexual relationship, including spending a weekend together in a motel room."
"And was this weekend before or after Lieutenant Pike's transfer from JAG HQ?" Coffman asked, as he looked at the career timelines for both Harm and Kate. If it was before, they were the same rank and therefore neither reported to the other, per se. If after, they were not in the same chain of command and fraternization didn't necessarily apply, either.
"I don't know, Colonel. That was one of the things I was attempting to uncover," Alison said, letting a little of her frustration show through.
"That could possibly explain getting Pike's records, but not the other two."
"I was attempting to establish a possible pattern of behavior. Surely you've been an attorney long enough to grasp that."
Colonel Coffman wisely bit his tongue on the first comments that came to mind. Yes, he'd been an attorney long enough to understand the concept. But he'd also been one long enough to know better than to get caught breaking the law on a wild goose chase.
"That is certainly a line of reasoning we can present to the judge at the Article 32 hearing, Captain. It will a tough sell, but we can try. It still leaves the potential Article 134 charge that Commander Alexander will certainly request. Also, the length of time between the occurrence of the alleged fraternization and you investigating it will also be an issue."
Now it was Alison's turn to be silent. She was having her doubts about the man across the table from her. He seemed to be going through the motions, rather than having a passion for defending her. To beat this, she needed someone with that level of passion. Making a decision, she looked across the table.
"Colonel, you may let Commander Alexander know that I intend to defend myself. You may sit second chair, if you wish."
"Captain, I strongly advise against that course of action," Colonel Coffman said.
"I need a vigorous defense and I don't sense that level of commitment in you. Therefore, I will have to do it myself," Alison said.
"Very well, Captain. Here are the case files. If you'll excuse me, I'll find my way back to London now."
Alison looked at the stack of files before picking them up and following the Colonel out of the office. She went her way back to the BOQ, while he headed for the main gate and onward to the train station for the trip back to NAVFOREUR. 'This was going to be interesting,' he thought, before turning to how he was going to tell Admiral Morris and Commander Alexander. Maybe he would just tell the Admiral and let him pass the news along. If not for the potential seriousness of the situation, he could almost laugh.