Army Judge’s Rape Opinion Challenges Sergeant’s Case

A military judge ruled Friday that drill sergeants have so much power over trainees that they don’t need to use a weapon or threaten force to be found guilty of rape.

In a major setback for the defense in the court-martial of Staff Sgt. Delmar Simpson, the judge further stated that the women need not resist or object.

The judge, Col. Paul Johnston, refused to dismiss the 19 rape counts against Simpson, the first soldier to stand trial in the Aberdeen sex scandal that led to an investigation of sexual misconduct at U.S. military bases worldwide.

Civilian defense attorney Frank J. Spinner angrily shouted at the judge that the ruling diluted the definition of rape so that men could not defend themselves against the charge.

“Do we have law that has become so paternalistic that now they don’t even have to say ‘no’?” Spinner asked. “Are trainees so ignorant that they can’t distinguish between a drill sergeant telling them to run up a hill or lie down on a bed?”

Simpson, 32, could get life in prison for a single rape conviction.

In his ruling, Johnston said drill sergeants command so much power over trainees--ordering them where to eat and sleep and how to act--that they are like parents.

Because of that authority, drill sergeants do not need to use a weapon or threaten trainees with harm to fit the definition of “constructive force” necessary for a rape conviction, Johnston said.

“They are conditioned to follow drill sergeants’ orders,” the judge said. “I think there is a sufficient body of law to find there is constructive force in this case.”

At the same time, the judge said he does not believe that just because a drill sergeant and a trainee have sex, it is rape. He said the six-member jury must decide whether the circumstances constituted rape and could still find Simpson not guilty.