COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Service: Women
Accuser Testifies in Academy Sex Case
Associated Press
April 06, 2007
WASHINGTON - A Naval Academy student testified Thursday that a fellowmidshipman forced her to have sex three times over several hours in a
Washington hotel last year.
The woman told jurors at Kenny Ray Morrison's court-martial that she
tried to resist Morrison but that he carried her to a bed, removed her
clothes and had sex with her during the night of Feb. 3, 2006, and
early the next morning.
"I continued to say, 'No, you can't do this,'" the woman, now a senior
at the Annapolis military school, told the seven Marine and Navy
officers during the first day of testimony at the Washington Navy Yard.
The woman is one of two female midshipman that prosecutors say
Morrison had sex with against their wishes on different occasions last
year. The Associated Press does not identify people in sexual assault
cases.
Morrison, 24, of Kingwood, Texas, was charged with indecent assault
and conduct unbecoming an officer in each case. He was scheduled to
graduate last spring, but remains a midshipman while his legal case
continues.
He originally faced more serious charges of raping the women with the
aid of "date rape" drugs, but those counts were dropped after
questions arose over the accuracy of tests that Navy prosecutors used
to prove the women were drugged.
Morrison's attorney, William Ferris, said during opening statements
that the former backup football linebacker will testify later that the
sex was consensual. Sitting at the defense table in his blue uniform,
Morrison showed little reaction as the woman testified.
Morrison is the second midshipman to face court-martial for sexual
assault in the past year. Former star football quarterback Lamar Owens
Jr. was cleared of rape last year but convicted of lesser charges.
Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Rodney Rempt has recommended that
Owens be dismissed without graduating, a proposal under review by the
secretary of the Navy.
On Thursday, the woman testified that she'd had nine drinks the night
she claimed she was assaulted, starting at an Annapolis restaurant and
later at a Washington nightclub. She began to feel ill and went back
to a nearby hotel where midshipmen were staying in several rooms. The
woman fell asleep, but awoke to find Morrison standing over her,
asking her to have sex with him. She kissed him, but said she didn't
want to have sex.
"I said, 'No, I can't,'" the woman recalled, but Morrison persisted
and moved her to another bed because another midshipman was sleeping
next to her. She said Morrison had sex with her three times over the
next several hours.
The woman said she felt dizzy during the night, going in and out of
sleep. She told jurors that she did not flee or cry out because she
felt embarrassed and didn't know what to do. At one point, she tried
to reach for her clothes on the floor, but testified that Morrison
pulled her back into the bed.
The second woman, now a Marine officer, testified in a pretrial
hearing that Morrison gave her a beer at an Annapolis bar the night of
April 21. She said her next memory was waking up next to Morrison, naked.
Prosecutors said Thursday that there was evidence that Morrison had
sex with her that night, but Ferris said Morrison will testify that
the woman "invited sexual activity."
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