Texas shooter got light penalty in attack on wife, baby stepson,
Ex-prosecutor: Military courts tough on accusers
WASHINGTON – Almost five years ago, a military court dropped gun charges against Airman First Class Devin Kelley — who shot down more than two dozen people in a Texas church Sunday — and instead gave him a oneyear sentence for threatening his wife with a loaded gun and attacking her 1year-old child.
The case raises questions about whether the military treats domestic violence cases with sufficient gravity.
His sentence was “very light,” said Don Christensen, the Air Force’s former top prosecutor, whose office oversaw the Kelley case. “Very light, but sadly, not unusually light. I’ve done a lot of shaken baby cases, and they almost always come in around a year of confinement.”
Beyond the relatively light sentence, the Air Force failed to put the conviction in the federal background-check database. That allowed Kelley to legally buy the AR-15 he used on Sunday to kill 25 people, along with one unborn child, and wound 20 at his mother-in-law’s Texas church. That failure is under investigation.
The military court considered allegations that Kelley pointed loaded and unloaded guns at his wife. He admitted he struck his infant stepson with force that could have killed, and choked and kicked his wife, documents show.
But the court dropped the gun charges against Kelley in exchange for a one-year sentence for “domestic violence” for throttling his wife and child.
“In 2012, this member was properly charged, tried, convicted and sentenced by a panel of qualified Air Force members for assaulting his wife and minor stepson,” Gen. Robin Rand, the top officer who signed off on the conviction, told USA TODAY. “His prosecution was in accordance with the principles of our legal system and based on the evidence gathered and our ability to convict.”
Christensen said that the verdict in a civilian court likely would have been more harsh, but it is difficult to make direct comparisons because of differences in state laws and facts in cases.
The military justice system is illequipped for domestic violence cases, Christensen said. Lower-level commanders can decide which cases are sent for courts-martial and they usually know the accused, but not the accuser.
Troops accused of domestic abuse “often lay the groundwork by complaining to their first sergeant, ‘My wife’s crazy.’ So, when the wife finally does come forward, his superiors are ready to disbelieve her,” Christensen said. “The belief is that she’s just out to get him. She’s just out to destroy his career.”
Afraid of the abuser and often dependent on him for support, the women often retract their accusations, he said.