.Former Cherry Point commander to have court martial

[Phantom Blooper]

May 04, 2011 5:00 PM

SUE BOOK
Freedom ENC
Updated at 7:16 p.m.
CHERRY POINT — A former Cherry Point air station commander will face trial by court martial, Lt. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, commander of Marine Corps Bases Atlantic in Norfolk, announced Wednesday.
Col. Douglas A. Denn was relieved of command in October 2010 after he was arrested and charged with DWI.
“Denn is accused of violating an order, dereliction of duty, false official statements, driving while impaired, conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, and conduct prejudicial to the good order and discipline of the Armed Forces," Hejlik said in a prepared release.
No date has been set for the proceedings.
Denn, 47, is a Marine pilot and was commander at Cherry Point from August 2009 until relieved of duty by Maj. Gen. Carl Jensen, commander of Marine Corps Installations East, the day after his Oct. 25, 2010, arrest by Newport Police for drunk driving and speeding.
Denn pleaded guilty to those charges in Carteret County District Court in and quickly faced an Article 32 hearing at Cherry Point Joint Law Center to hear evidence on whether he would face a court martial.
The hearing in front of Investigating Officer Col. Christopher Miner began with more than the original charges, however, prompting one of his two civilian and one Marine Corps defense attorneys to call the hearing “an ambush” that “fundamentally denies his 6th Amendment right to counsel.”
New charges included wrongful use of government resources, making false statements, a continued improper relationship with a civilian employee after being warned, and wrongfully attempting to impede justice.
Miner listened to three witnesses and recessed to receive additional information electronically to allow Denn’s response to the additional charges.
Most of the testimony from three government witnesses — Maj. Todd Yates, Col. Joseph E. George, and Col. Robert Clinton — was evidence that Marine Corps trial counsel Lt. Col. Valerie Danyluk said showed Denn violated the Navy’s flight rules by flying less than 12 hours after consuming alcohol and not telling the truth when he said he got eight hours crew rest.
Witness testimony revealed that about 7:30 a.m. following his civilian arrest about 12:30 a.m. Oct. 25, Denn was briefed as scheduled for multi-leg C-130 flight from Cherry Point to New York and that he flew the homebound leg back to the base.
The news media was allowed into the high security hearing but not shown written evidence. No oral defense evidence was presented then, with Denn’s attorneys, Col. John G. Baker, Douglas Cody and Phillip Haward, submitting defense evidence electronically.
Following the hearing, Denn declined comment to the press.
Marine Corps lawyers said that without Miner’s recommendation to submit the case to Hejlik, it would have stopped at Cherry Point, where Denn had been reassigned to other duties. With a recommendation to refer for court martial, Hejlik could have acted to move forward to trial or not.

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The former commander of Cherry Point will have a court martial, military officials announced Wednesday.
Lt. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, Commander of Marine Corps Bases Atlantic, referred charges against Col. Douglas A. Denn to trial by court-martial on Wednesday, according to a press release from U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command.
Charges to be considered by the court include violations of Articles 92, 107, 111, 133 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to the release. Denn is accused of violating an order, dereliction of duty, false official statements, driving while impaired, conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, and conduct prejudicial to the good order and discipline of the Armed Forces.
No date has been set for the proceedings.

[USNAviator]

Chuck that must be highly unusual, for a DWI? Not a sea lawyer so I won't offer any opinions but perhaps our resident JAG will educate us

He violated Navy regs by flying less than 12 hours after consuming alcohol? Things sure have changed. Nothing like sucking on oxygen in the cockpit to cure any potential alcohol residue or so I'm told.........

[USNAviator]

One of the things that stands out is flying just 7 hrs after having been arrested, not that he was still intoxicated, and the degree is unknown, but just for the APPEARANCE of impropriety that it tends to show.
That was a big big mistake.

The very last thing any defendant needs after an arrest is to take some shortcut somewhere in the rules and regs and laws. It just makes them look much worse. It's the opposite of "damage control".

Dave is this really a CM offense? I know you don't have all the facts but could this be personal? At age 47 I'm thinking he has 25 years in, why not let him retire?

[USNAviator]

Seems to be very personal, Dan-----It's not just the DUI/OUI/DWI, it's mainly his rank, position and now the other things associated with him, the new charges they threw in there while they were at it.
What it shows, to me, is that he was unpopular before the OUI incident, and they were already looking for something like the OUI to come down the pike so they could court-martial, not having quite enough with the allegations about improper relationship etc. and you see he was previously warned about that, so they were watching him, and he sure enough provided them with the ammo they wanted.
He took the rope they gave him, put it around his neck.
Just an OUI would never result in what is going on.
The Article 32 is the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding, to see what the evidence is and if it is enough to take him to trial (court-martial). The Art 32 officer (I ended up doing one myself, early on) decides whether to recommend CM or not. And the CG can say, no, we don't want to court-martial the guy. But the CG will always sit down with the JAG CO and confer about that, and take the advice of the head JAG (Staff Judge Advocate).
But I have no doubt that all the other things played into it, the other charges. But mainly the idea that he was having problems prior to the DUI incident. And I am not sure why he entered a Guilty plea so soon in civilian court.
As usual, it's the behind the scenes things that are probably driving this case.

Thanks Dave that was my take as well, at least on the personal level. I'm just a dumb Squid fly boy so all the legal talk went right over my head.

[VictoryttBold]

Why even put this up ?

[USNAviator]

They could have gone with an Administrative Discharge Board/Administrative Separation Board, which is not criminal in nature. But they elected to do it this way, adding a few charges while they were at it. The most blatant indication of their desire to do him in, as I said, is the improper relationship thing, throwing that charge in there.

Anytime you use a sledgehammer to swat a housefly, you know you have overkill in progress.........legal stuff is no different

Sounds as if he's not particularly well liked.

[SSgtRSD]

So speaking of Illuminatti tattoos, How does yours look Dave???

[SSgtRSD]

Just like the illuminate themselves, it will live on forever, or so we were told...

[USNAviator]

I can't tell you, Ryan, remember the Illuminati is a very secret organization.
Mine looks pretty good, though.

I thought that thread would never end. LOL

Mine came out pretty bad Ryan. It's upside down and the eye is my belly button. Talk about navel improprieties!!

[SSgtRSD]

Did you say Naval improprieties??

Sorry Sir, had too...

[USNAviator]

Did you say Naval improprieties??

Sorry Sir, had too...

LOL almost did but my navel intelligence stopped me just in time.....

[SSgtRSD]

Speaking of hijacked threads, I'm still waiting to hear who killed JFK from the contradictions thread...

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Looks like the CO is out to fry this guy for sure. Pizzed SOMEone off. "Make an example...."

JFK was killed by the illumanti, who, along with the Freemasons and the Little Orphan Annie club, disliked his policies on importation of mind controlling headsets and flouride in the water, contaminating our vital bodily fluids.

[Phantom Blooper]

Why even put this up ?

Because....

I'm a shiat stirrer, I'm a shiat stirrer,
Watchin' threads go by, my, my, my.
I'm a shiat stirrer, I'm a shiat stirrer,
Here comes one now.
Mm-mm-mmh!

Also better than counting dots on the ceiling tiles....

[Garyius]

He must be on the outs. When I was in they were titally cool with officers sleeping with enlisted wives. It was cool all across the board.

Black 1st Lt in a heavy Mason unit gets busted for it. All of the sudden he gets a general court and a dismissal (O version of a dishonorable).

Zeros will cover up for each other, unless the knives were out pretty hard for the other guy, then they use the hammer.