The Controversial Conviction of an Army Special Forces Soldier

Army Sgt. 1st Class Kelly A. Stewart‘s life turned upside down Nov. 7, 2008, the day a German woman accused him, among other things, of raping and kidnapping her two and a half months earlier during a one-night stand that ended in his hotel room in Sindelfingen, Germany.

Nine months later, Stewart found himself convicted on multiple charges — including kidnapping, forcible sodomy and aggravated sexual assault of a woman — based almost entirely on the testimony of his accuser. Along with being sentenced to eight years confinement at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., the Special Forces soldier, combat veteran and Bronze Star recipient was reduced in rank to E-1, stripped of all pay and allowances and recommended for dishonorable discharge upon release.

Critics of the outcome of Stewart’s court-martial say key evidence likely to have changed the minds of the ten court-martial panel members was never presented during his two-day trial.

Perhaps the most glaring omission was that of the accuser’s medical records related to her four-month stay at a mental institution three years prior to the alleged incident involving Stewart. Neither the accuser nor the German government would allow representatives of the military court — including Stewart’s defense attorneys — access to those records.

It was during a post-trial Article 39(a) session seven months ago, however, that more shocking information — including testimony from individuals not heard from during the trial — surfaced:

~ A long-time friend, co-worker and roommate of Stewart’s accuser said the woman lied when she told the court she had not engaged in any dating relationships and had not had any sexual contacts with men since the night of the alleged crime. According to the friend, the sergeant’s accuser had sex with at least two different men after the alleged rape took place.

~ A court-appointed victim-witness liaison assigned to help the accuser alleged that the accuser attempted to deceive the jury with emotional outbursts during the court-martial proceedings and that those outbursts ceased after she mentioned to the accuser the possibility that court-martial panel members might think she was insane and not believe her because of her antics.

~ An elderly Canadian woman living in Germany reported as “kind of weird” that the accuser, who she barely knew, told her “out of the blue” about her pursuit of a school teacher and, a day later, “that it worked out” and that they had “had sex.”

Other post-trial concerns surfaced as well.

In a letter to Brig. Gen. Steven L. Salazar, commander of Headquarters 7th Army Joint Military Training Command to which Stewart was assigned in Grafenwoher, Germany, the wife of an Army soldier stationed in Germany asked the general to grant Stewart a new trial.

In addition to citing the absence of any women on the court-martial panel, she outlined her contention that claims made by the accuser about the ways in which she was allegedly raped by the soldier were ludicrous. She even went so far as to explain that she and her husband tried unsuccessfully to replicate those ways before concluding that the alleged rape could not have happened as described by the accuser.

In a “Request for Clemency” package dated Dec. 2, 2009, Stewart’s defense attorneys included a statement from the accuser’s aforementioned friend. In it, the friend said she received a text message from the accuser on the same day as the alleged incident took place.

In the text message, according to the friend, the accuser described a lecherous night where she “found my master.” The friend took this to mean that there was sex of the sadomasochist type and noted that there was no talk of something happening that the accuser did not like. The friend stated further that the accuser claimed her encounter with Stewart was “great SEX.”

Sadly, the lawyers, the letters, the testimony and the evidence — or lack thereof — failed to convince General Salazar to grant Stewart a new trial. Instead, the general took several actions, including the following:

~ He reduced the length of Stewart’s sentence from eight years (with one year already served) to three years, making him eligible for parole immediately;

~ He changed Stewart’s discharge condition from “dishonorable” to “bad conduct”; and



~ He dismissed the charge involving inveigling (i.e., using flattery to accomplish an objective).

While the general’s actions were welcomed, they fell far short of the action Stewart’s backers think he deserves.

Now, Stewart’s case will automatically be appealed to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals in Washington, D.C. If the appeal fails and a full pardon from President Barack Obama or his successor is not forthcoming, Stewart will be forever branded a felon and a sex offender. He will be severely limited in what he can do and where he can live and work. And he will be unable to continue serving his country in uniform. All due to a tragic miscarriage of justice.

“LAST DANCE: The Wrongful Conviction of Army Special Forces Sergeant 1st Class Kelly A. Stewart” is based on actual court transcripts and communications with individuals with close ties to the case, including one SF soldier who served alongside Stewart in Iraq for eight months. Offering never-before-published details of Stewart’s conviction, sentencing and appeals process, it could very well make your blood boil.

I am working on a book about this case and hope to complete it within the next couple of months. Until then, you can keep up to date about Stewart’s case at SaveThisSoldier.com.

FYI: Individuals wanting to write letters of support to Stewart can send them to him at the following address:

Kelly A. Stewart 88175

1300 North Warehouse Road

Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027-2304