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McKinney avoids prison, sues first accuser

McKinney and wife Wilhemina
The McKinneys spoke briefly with reporters as they left the courthouse  

In this story:

March 16, 1998
Web posted at: 7:38 p.m. EST (0038 GMT)

FORT BELVOIR, Virginia (CNN) -- An Army jury spared Sgt. Maj. Gene McKinney a prison sentence Monday, reprimanding him instead and reducing his rank for obstruction of justice in the sexual misconduct case against him.

"Well, it's over with," McKinney said with his arm around his wife afterward. "Wilhemina and I are going to get on with our lives. We've got a lot of things we want to accomplish." (icon 310KB/28 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

Pausing briefly, he added, "We did OK."

As they turned to walk away, his wife turned back to the media and said, "I'd just like to thank God for prayers."

Immediately after the sentencing, Charles Gittins, McKinney's civilian lawyer, announced that a $1.5 million libel and slander suit had been filed against McKinney's initial accuser, retired Sgt. Maj. Brenda Hoster.

Gittins said the lawsuit was filed in early February and that the papers against Hoster were served Monday. He said the suit is for $500,000 damages -- the amount he said McKinney will lose in benefits for being demoted -- and $1 million in punitive damages.

Gittins
Gittins  

"You don't get to make false allegations on national TV," Gittins said. "Brenda Hoster needs to learn that lesson and we intend to give it to her."

Hoster testified that McKinney accosted her in a hotel room in Hawaii in 1996. She has appeared at least five times on national television, including an interview on ABC's "Prime Time Live." Her accusation accounted for one of the 19 charges against McKinney.

'Liars, cheats and frauds'

Hoster and five other women accused McKinney of pressuring them for sex and intimidating them, and told their stories in sometimes graphic detail. But the eight-person Army jury acquitted him of all but one charge of obstructing justice.

McKinney, once the Army's highest-ranking enlisted man, could have gotten up to five years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. The reduction in rank demotes McKinney by one grade, to master sergeant.

Gittins said he was "disappointed" by the sentence, but added, "It could have been worse."

"We demonstrated conclusively that those women were liars, cheats and frauds," Gittins said. "We proved it and (the court-martial jury) accepted it." ( icon 185KB/16 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

Gittins said the other accusers were not being sued because they are protected by a doctrine that prevents someone in the military from suing a superior or subordinate. Also, he noted, only Hoster appeared on national TV to make the allegations.

McKinney's sentence Monday was imposed by the same jury of six men and two women that cleared him of 18 of 19 counts Friday.

The Army's lead prosecutor, Lt. Col. Michael Child, asked the jury to sentence McKinney to six months in prison and a reduction to the lowest rank, buck private. He did not ask for a dishonorable discharge.

McKinney, 47, was convicted for encouraging one of his accusers, Staff Sgt. Christine Fetrow, to lie to Army investigators. Their telephone conversation was secretly recorded and played for the jury at the court-martial.

McKinney glares at accusers

On the recording, which was replayed during the sentencing hearing, McKinney is heard telling Fetrow, "Just tell them that we talked.... No inappropriateness at all, just that we talked."

Fetrow testified that McKinney pursued her for sex for more than two years. She said that in the call, he was urging her to lie; McKinney testified he was merely encouraging her to tell the truth.

McKinney sketch
McKinney stands before a military jury  

Gittins told the jury that McKinney and his wife have suffered in the year since the accusations were made public and that imprisoning McKinney and reducing his rank would be "overkill."

Four of McKinney's six accusers sat next to one another in the courtroom Monday, leaning forward -- stone-faced -- in their chairs.

McKinney, looking relaxed, asked the jury to consider nearly three decades of service and allow him to retire with honor. He told the court, "I just simply would ask that you allow Wilhemina and I to move forward with some honor."

But as he left the witness stand, McKinney glared at his accusers. Fetrow raised her eyebrows and dropped her jaw in disbelief.

Mrs. McKinney told the jury the sexual misconduct case had broken her husband: "I've seen him as really broken as I've never seen him before. I would like to ask that you please let him retire with honor."

'An open and fair forum'

As the sentence was imposed, McKinney stood at attention and showed no emotion. His wife sat stoically, directly behind him.

McKinney -- who served 29 years in the Army -- has already submitted his retirement papers. It is unclear how the sentence will affect McKinney's retirement pay. His lawyers argued McKinney was made a scapegoat for the Army's difficulties in integrating women into the service.

In a statement, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Dennis Reimer said the case was a good example of military justice at work.

"There has been one overriding principle throughout this whole process and that has been to do what is right and what is fair for all our soldiers," Reimer said.

"In this case, the military justice system ran its course," he said. "This case was presented in an open and fair forum, and an impartial panel weighed the evidence and made their decision."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

 
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