Claim of Immunity Postpones Court-Martial in Tailhook Case

The first court-martial in the Tailhook sexual-misconduct scandal was halted moments before it was to begin Wednesday so that a military appeals court can determine whether the accused Navy lieutenant was guaranteed immunity from prosecution.

Lt. David Samples claims that he should not be tried for lifting and stripping a woman during the 1991 Tailhook Assn. convention at a Las Vegas hotel because military officials had assured him earlier this year that he would not be prosecuted if he cooperated with the government. The U.S. Court of Military Appeals in Washington sent word to a Navy judge here Wednesday that it will consider Samples’ argument.

A flight navigator who enlisted five years ago, Samples is one of only two servicemen now facing criminal assault charges in the Tailhook scandal.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon inspector general’s office concluded that as many as 140 men sexually assaulted 83 women at the convention. But a majority of the cases have either not resulted in criminal prosecutions or have gone to non-judicial hearings in which aviators received fines and letters of admonition.

Even the most celebrated case, that brought by Navy Lt. Paula Coughlin, ended in a dismissal this month after it was shown that accused Marine Corps Capt. Gregory J. Bonam was not her assailant.

In the Samples case, military prosecutors are attempting to prove that Samples and a group of male aviators stripped a drunk 17-year-old college student, hoisted her into the air and passed her along a third-floor hotel hallway.

Samples, however, contends that while he did witness the act as it concluded, he was not a participant.

“I vaguely recall seeing some women, but I didn’t see anyone being grabbed or assaulted,” he said in a statement to authorities. “It was one huge cluster of people. I was never a part of that cluster.”

Samples said that before he made the statement, officials told him he would not be prosecuted.