United States v. Dial

1/8/2023

Remember him?

An officer was sentenced Sunday to dismissal from the Army but no time in prison after being found guilty of attempting to sexually assault a teenage family member while visiting Disneyland Paris three years ago. [The prosecution had called for up to a five-year prison sentence.]
Lt. Col. Andrew J. Dial had faced three charges related to sexual assault, all of which he pleaded not guilty to during a nearly weeklong court-martial.
A jury of eight high-ranking officers found Dial not guilty of indecent conduct and three counts of abusive sexual contact, while convicting him Saturday on the attempted sexual assault charge.

Sua sponte the MJ

Pritchard described the verdicts as “inconsistent” after the jury announced them Saturday.
He questioned how there could be evidence to support a guilty verdict of attempted sexual assault if the accused also had been found not guilty of touching the family member’s breasts and genital area without consent.
Pritchard considered a motion of his own that would have rendered a not guilty verdict, but upon deliberation allowed sentencing to continue.

The MJ imposed the mandatory dismissal; which is good because otherwise he wouldn't have any appeal.

7 Comments

William Cassara

1/9/2023 13:00:28

Sadly, the reporting from S&S is incorrect. "A Dismissal will turn into a DD."

Philip Cave link

1/9/2023 13:03:25

Yep BB. As we know very few civilians know the difference and automatically assume they are the same designation.

Tami Mitchell

1/9/2023 13:15:15

I have to applaud the MJ for doing the right thing. Hopefully the conviction will get overturned on factual insufficiency.

Brenner Fissell

1/9/2023 16:56:10

What am I missing here? Why is it inconsistent to say there was an attempt but not a consummated offense?

Nathan Freeburg

1/9/2023 18:32:11

Brenner,

My best guess is that without the physical contact there wouldn’t be evidence of sexual intent. But the Stars and Stripes article really doesn’t give enough info.

Donald G Rehkopf, Jr.

1/10/2023 12:43:51

Well, at least he's got a preserved unanimity issue . . . . .

Patrick J. McLain link

1/11/2023 03:00:01

To my fellow military justice practitioners: I was the civilian defense counsel in US v LTC Dial. The finding as to the Charge of attempted sexual assault was inconsistent with the findings on the sexual assault charges and specifications. The military judge did a service to our client by highlighting that inconsistency even as he decided that the facts did not permit him to render a finding of Not Guilty as to the attempted sexual assault. I am very hopeful that the ACCA will see it the same way, much as did the NMCCA in Colonel Wilson's case (https://www.jag.navy.mil/courts/documents/archive/2019/WILSON_201800022_UNPUB.pdf#page=53) which was a much stronger case on the mertis than our own. Feel free to reach out by email if you want information about the trial or the litigation on the unanimity motion. Semper Fi, Patrick McLain patrick@patrickjmclain.com

CAAFlog

United States v. Dial

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