FORT RUCKER, Ala. (AP) – An Army officer accused of raping a New Jersey National Guard soldier in her barracks room went on trial in a military court Monday, with a prosecutor saying the defendant stalked the woman for days beforehand.
Lt. Mike Hall is accused of raping Jennifer Dyer last August at Camp Shelby, near Hattiesburg, Miss.
“He refused to take “no’ for an answer,” said prosecutor Capt. Jeffrey Dodson.
But defense attorney Victor Kelley said Dyer made up the allegation to get out of the Army and avoid duty in Iraq. Hall, 35, contends the sex was consensual.
Dyer, 26, has said she reported the rape immediately after it occurred in her room, a few doors from Hall’s. She later went public with her allegation in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” complaining Army investigators doubted her story.
Army Special Agent Eric Barreras, who led the investigation, testified that Dyer’s allegations “did not add up” at first, but later evidence supported the charges, including an analysis of Dyer’s pants and underwear that showed they were torn off.
Before the proceedings began, Hall opted for a non-jury trial. A military judge will issue a verdict.
Dyer received an honorable discharge from the Army, married and returned to work at the Salem County Sheriff’s Department in New Jersey.
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