Former airman Alexander Driskill could receive a new trial after the U.S. military’s highest appeals court sent his case back for review. Judges ruled that he faced double jeopardy regarding his conviction on charges including child rape and child sexual abuse during his time at Aviano Air Base in Italy. (Facebook)
A former airman serving 30 years in prison for raping and sexually abusing a 2-year-old child while he was stationed in Italy must have his case reviewed and may gain a new trial, the military’s highest appeals court has ruled.
Alexander Driskill was unlawfully subjected to double jeopardy, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces said in a unanimous decision released Monday.
The double jeopardy claim hinged on Driskill’s 2019 acceptance of a guilty plea on a charge of wrongful possession of obscene cartoons, which was tossed by the judges.
They reversed the earlier denial of Driskill’s appeal on that charge by the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, which was ordered to revisit the case in light of Monday’s decision.
Although Driskill lost that 2022 challenge, the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that his prison term was “inappropriately severe” and reduced his nearly 41-year sentence to 30 years.
Driskill served as an air crew flight equipment technician with the 31st Operations Support Squadron at Aviano Air Base. His offenses occurred between October 2016 and March 2018.
At his first court-martial in 2018, he was charged with two specifications related to child pornography offenses and one specification of possessing obscene cartoons, according to court documents.
Authorities searched his home and electronic devices after the victim was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection. They found drawings of childlike characters engaged in sexual acts, and Driskill admitted to having more than 100 similar images, according to court documents.
The military judge found him not guilty of the first two specifications and dismissed the obscene cartoon charge on the grounds that the court did not have jurisdiction because the alleged offense occurred in Italy.
In 2019, he went on trial again after the victim disclosed the abuse. The proceedings were held at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Aviano and at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado.
In the second trial, he was found guilty of rape of a child and sexual abuse of a child.
He also pleaded guilty to wrongful possession of obscene cartoons after his request for dismissal of that charge on double jeopardy grounds was denied, according to court documents.
Driskill’s guilty plea came with the understanding that he could raise the double jeopardy issue on appeal. Besides the prison sentence, he was required to forfeit all pay and allowances and reduced in pay grade to E-1.
As a result of Monday’s ruling, the Air Force appeals court must consider “how the admission of the obscene cartoons as evidence may have affected the findings of guilty for the other contested offenses,” the armed forces appeals court judges wrote.
If the Air Force appellate judges set aside the remaining findings and sentence, a rehearing is authorized, the court said, adding that if the judges uphold the findings, they could reassess the sentence or order a sentencing rehearing.
