McKinney Witness Accused of Hidden Agenda

The woman who first accused Army Sgt. Maj. Gene C. McKinney of sexual harassment told a former supervisor before she went public with her charges that she had a plan “to bring down Sgt. Maj. McKinney,” the supervisor testified Friday.

Retired Maj. Marianna Yamamoto of Seabrook, Md., said at McKinney’s court-martial that former Sgt. Maj. Brenda L. Hoster’s motive for accusing McKinney was her desire to return to active duty. Hoster retired from the Army shortly after an incident in Hawaii, in which she alleged that McKinney, then the top enlisted man in the Army, grabbed her and asked for sex.

Yamamoto testified that Hoster, who worked as an aide to McKinney, told her she had obtained a lawyer to help her end McKinney’s career and that Hoster had told her of a case in which another former soldier had earned $50,000 in back pay after making similar charges.

McKinney’s lawyers have been attempting to raise doubts about the testimony of all six military women who have accused him of a variety of incidents of sexual misconduct. McKinney has denied the charges, contending the women fabricated their stories to seek revenge for his demanding style as a military leader.

Testimony from another defense witness Friday gave the first explicit suggestion of racial bias against McKinney, whose lawyers have claimed he is being prosecuted because he is an African American. Chief Warrant Officer Deborah Varga said Staff Sgt. Christina M. Fetrow, one of McKinney’s chief accusers, told her she wanted to be reassigned to Ireland, “where there are all white people.”

McKinney’s lawyers failed Friday in an effort to get military judge Col. Ferdinand D. Clervi to throw out the case on the basis of statements about upcoming testimony an Army lawyer made Thursday to reporters.

Charles Gittins of Alexandria, Va., was furious that Capt. Steven Levin, who has been assigned to help reporters understand military procedure, had told reporters that evidence to be introduced later in the court-martial would raise questions about an auto shop sign-in sheet McKinney supposedly signed the night he is accused of having sex with a young soldier.

Clervi said there was no evidence that Levin’s remarks had reached the military panel considering the case.