Cassandra Hernandez faces indecency charges after declining to testify against one of three fellow airmen she said assaulted her.[/b]
By David Zucchino, L.A. Times
August 12, 2007
POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- In the early-morning hours of May 13, 2006, after a night of partying with fellow airmen who were mixing a potent cocktail called the Incredible Hulk, Airman 1st Class Cassandra Hernandez told authorities that three of them had raped her.
One of the men was charged. After being questioned twice by the airman's military lawyer, Hernandez said, she felt "enormous stress" and decided not to testify.
"The pressure of the judicial process was too much for me, and I felt like no one was looking out for my interests," Hernandez, a 20-year-old Texan, wrote in a June letter to Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
What the Air Force did next, Hernandez and her military attorneys say, has a chilling effect on sexual assault victims: The military dropped the rape prosecution and instead charged Hernandez with committing an indecent act. The Air Force granted the three male airmen immunity for their testimony against her.
Court-martial proceedings against Hernandez are scheduled for Sept. 24. If convicted, she could get as long as a year behind bars, a reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge. Her attorneys say she also could be required to register as a sex offender.
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