A Little Hope

I noticed that my last couple entries have been somewhat depressing but we received a little glimmer of hope today. My husband talked to his JAG lawyer about getting his record of trial back and while it could take an additional 3-4 weeks for things to be finalized (the army is never in a hurry to do anything!) his lawyer did say he found even more mistakes he thinks the judge makes and believes our civilian attorney will have plenty to work with for my husband's appeal. The JAG lawyer also said that he was going to use my husband's accuser's facebook nickname of "jail bait" in his clemency packet. Yes, she has Jail Bait right next to her name on facebook. This is the caliber of class that we are dealing with. I wish I could tell her exactly what I think of her but I will hold my tongue. It was hard enough having to see her and her wretched family at the trial. We really got lucky with his JAG lawyer. I've heard horror stories about appointed counsel being unreliable at best and not caring about their clients at all but CPT Adams has been there to answer every question I've had. He passed messages between my husband and I when we couldn't speak and told me he knows my husband is innocent and will do whatever he can to help us, including working with our appellate attorney, something he doesn't have to do. This may be a trying, exhausting time but we definitely have some good people on our side.

Also my son turned 5 months old on Friday. Time is flying because of him and, if it's possible, I love him more each day. His smile brightens my day and my life. It's exciting to watch him grow into a little person.

And it Begins Again

We got is ROT in last Friday. I was excited but anxious. This begins the whole process of preparing and waiting again. His JAG lawyer has to go over it with the prosecution and judge and then can issue official copies. Our civilian attorney has already contacted me letting me know he heard about the ROT coming back. I'm allowing myself a little bit of hope because Bill Cassara, our lawyer, got another assault case overturned. It was a guy in my husband's POD too, which is the little section he lives in. It's like it could almost be us. But right now we are facing clemency. My husband's JAG lawyer, who has always been straight up with me, said it could take a month or so to get the packet together and send it up and then who knows how long to hear back. He did read the clemency letters I've collected though and said they were very well written. This gives me hope that maybe his packet will stand out because of them.

I got really upset yesterday because I responded to an article about the hearing on military sexual assault cases by saying that they are already pursuing any and all sexual assault cases to the point where they are convicting people with no evidence and just heresay, like my husband. A woman replied that I sounded like someone who couldn't handle her loved one being a rapist. I can't even tell you how pissed off I was. How dare she judge me or my husband? I may or may not have called her the C-word but then I realized I would've thought the same thing had I been in her place. You don't realize how screwed up things can get until you're on the other side of it. It made me feel even more alone and isolated. I'm sitting and waiting, hoping for the best but who knows if it'll happen. We may have to live with this hanging over our heads for the rest of our lives and it's not fair.