OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — A military jury returned a verdict of not guilty Wednesday in the court-martial of an airman accused of raping two female airmen while they slept in their dorm rooms at Osan Air Base.
Senior Airman Burnette Prince Jr. of Osan’s 51st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron had been charged with two counts of rape.
The jury acquitted Prince at 4:35 p.m. after deliberating about two hours.
Prosecutors had accused Prince of raping one woman in October 2005 and the other in April 2006, while each was intoxicated and asleep. Both women and Prince were acquaintances at the times of the alleged incidents, according to court proceedings.
But defense lawyer Capt. Elizabeth M.D. Pullin had countered that the prosecution’s case did not add up and was built on “assumptions … based on emotions.”
Prince’s acquittal came one day after lawyers made their opening arguments in the case, which went forward before Air Force Col. Ron Gregory, chief circuit military judge for the Western Circuit, based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
The jury was impaneled Monday and consisted of three officers — a colonel, lieutenant colonel and captain, and three noncommissioned officers — two chief master sergeants and a technical sergeant.
About 10 witnesses testified in the course of the trial.
Prosecuting Prince were Capt. Ryan Hendricks and Capt. Dan Vaillant. Pullin’s co-defense counsel was Capt. Deanna Daly.
