CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — An Army sergeant was found guilty Friday at Camp Humphreys of attempted rape and other charges and sentenced to nine months in jail and a reprimand.
Sgt. Fernando Martinez had pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, violation of a lawful order, attempted violation of a lawful general regulation, and making a false official statement.
A six-member jury found him guilty of all the charges except rape; they found him guilty instead of attempted rape.
Martinez is assigned to Battery E, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery, part of the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade.
His court-martial began Tuesday and ended Friday before military judge Lt. Col. Thomas Kulish.
Martinez went drinking the night of July 18, a Friday, and returned to barracks "very drunk," prosecutor Capt. Gerard Kenna told jurors in his opening statement Tuesday.
In the early morning hours of July 19, Martinez went to another soldier’s room and "literally pulled" her out the door and back to his room, where he tried to have sex with her, Kenna said.
The sergeant pinned her to the bed and tried to penetrate her, Kenna said.
Martinez, Kenna told the jury, had denied any wrongdoing, insisting he’d summoned her for a matter of official business and that there had been no physical contact — sexual or otherwise.
But, Kenna said, fibers from her underwear and shirt were found on Martinez’s bed, and the woman’s DNA was found on Martinez’s knuckle and penis.
Defense lawyer Capt. Adam Jonasz called on jurors to focus on "evidence … talk, discuss, play Sherlock Holmes," before reaching a verdict.