CAMP CASEY, South Korea — Spc. Jacob Martinez Jr. shut his eyes the moment his pregnant mistress began testifying against him.
He rarely, if ever, opened them for the next 20 minutes.
Pfc. Monica Chatman, 19, bowed her head so low that only the top peeked over the witness stand while testifying in court Wednesday; her voice trembled, and her sniffles interrupted her clipped answers.
Martinez, 25, would be found guilty of violating an order, adultery and assaulting Chatman, followed by a sentence of four months in jail, reduction to E-1 and a bad-conduct discharge.
However, Chatman, who is 12 weeks pregnant, made it clear she wasn’t going to help too willingly.
Martinez had already pleaded guilty to beginning an adulterous affair with Chatman as a sergeant in September and to violating a no-contact order from a senior noncommissioned officer Feb. 17. But he pleaded not guilty to assaulting Chatman on Feb. 15.
On the day of the incident, Chatman came down to the 304th Signal Company barracks charge-of-quarters desk with blood on her hand and white jumpsuit, according to testimony.
In court Wednesday, it was up to Chatman to repeat what she said in her February police statement and to prosecutor Capt. James Richardson two days ago.
Martinez grabbed her by the neck, slammed her head to the ground, straddled her and tossed her around while arguing with her, according to the statement.
But Chapman left out most of those details on the stand.
“I don’t remember how I ended up on the floor,” Chatman said during examination by Richardson, even when presented with her own police statement.
After military Judge Col. Donna Wright and Richardson pressed her, she admitted that Martinez did push her down, bruising her head as it hit the floor. She also admitted to a cut pinky.
Capt. Mohammad Shah, a Camp Stanley doctor, provided more detail in court.
The knot on the back of her head had swelled, Shah said based on examining her late Feb. 17 and on the next day. She also suffered a strained neck, a jaw contusion, blurry vision, a swollen eyelid and cuts and bruises on her legs and hand.
During sentencing, Chatman testified for Martinez, describing him as a considerate person.
“He’s trying to make things right,” Chatman said. “They try to make it seem like he’s a monster and that’s not what happened.”
Martinez apologized to Chatman, as well as to his wife and two children, his unit and the court.
Crime factsName: Spc. Jacob Martinez Jr.Age: 25Unit: 304th Signal Company, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp StanleyCharges: Violating an order; adultery; assault consummated by batterySentence: Four months of confinement; reduction in rank to E-1; bad-conduct discharge
