White cadet arrested in bloody brawl. Charged with sexual assault.

A white Coast Guard Academy cadet was arrested after a bloody assault early Sunday morning, 12 November 2006 at a Groton, Connecticut Navy Lodge motel.
The 19 year old Caucasian male cadet, named John K. Miller, is a 6 foot 2 inch 200 pound wide receiver on the Academy football team. He is a sophomore in the Class of 2009, and hails from Lawrence, Michigan. No doubt he was instrumental in the Academy football team ending the season with a 7 and 0 record. That is the best season they have had in a long time, even before Otto Graham. They actually played for the championship. Wow, that is a good reason to party. Invite the Track Team, Volley Ball Team and friends.
He was charged with third-degree sexual assault, breach of the peace, and unlawful restraint, also felonies. Charging unlawful restraint is another way of charging kidnapping or false imprisonment. Miller had prevented his victim from leaving one of the rented motel rooms, police said, and forced her to have sexual contact that was not traditional intercourse, according to one officer.
When he was arrested, John Miller was bleeding and had sustained a broken nose. Whoever broke his nose must have been a pretty tough cookie. A 6 foot 2 inch 200 pound football player is no pushover, even when he has been drinking. The victum was not a member of the Track or Volley Ball team. She was a civilian. Just who invited her is not known at this time.
Cadet Miller was treated at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. He was released into the custody of the Commandant of Cadets at the Coast Guard Academy after posting $10,000 bail. It has not been revealed whether any of the other cadets involved spent any time in jail. John K. Miller is scheduled to appear for arraignment in New London Superior Court on 22 November 2006.
Bail is only designed to ensure the appearance of the accused in court to answer to the charges. Since Cadet John K. Miller can not be considered a flight risk, he could have been released under his own recognizance. The Magistrate Judge was sending a message by setting bail at $10,000.00. Cadet Miller was only required to pay 10 percent of that, or $1,000.00, which he will eventually get back. As a third class cadet he has ,at least, that amount or more in his cadet trust account. Cadets are paid one half an Ensign's salary while at the Academy. After monthly deductions are made for uniforms, books, and subsistance, the remainder is deposited to his trust account. The Commandt of Cadets administers the accounts for the cadets. When a cadet graduates, he receives a commission as Ensign, a Bachelor of Science Degree, and a bank book with between $5,000 and $10,000.00 in his personal account.
The Groton police were responding to a call concerning a raucous late-night party at the Navy Lodge. John K. Miller was among a group of people who had rented rooms for the weekend. It has yet to be determined how many of the other party revelers were Coast Guard Academy cadets. Nor was it revealed how many of the randy revelers were actually registered guests at the motel.
There is a strong possibility that some of the female cadets questioned in the Webster Smith were at the Navy Lodge that early morning. They had no idea how fast karma would come full circle. Having dodged a bullet, gives one a false sense of invincibility.
Cadet John K. Miller entered the Academy in 2005 after graduating from Wayland Academy, a high school in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. He grew up in Lawrence, Michigan.
The Academy public relations office knew this, yet they deliberately tried to lead reporters away from Miller's actual home of record in Michigan. Does the Academy Superintendent or the Coast Guard have a good reason to keep reporters from looking at Michigan? What vital interests or influencial connections are they protecting?
The police arrived at about 0230 Hours Sunday morning. This would appear to be long after the expiration of any authorized liberty from the Academy.
A spokesman for the Academy, usually Chief Warrant Officer French or Chief Steve Strickland, said school officials would have no immediate comment on the cadet's arrest until they had a chance to review police reports. He said the academy will conduct its own investigation of the matter.
However, Cadet John K. Miller will not be pulled out of class, removed from the Chase Hall barracks, or forced to work at hard labor on the boat docks pending the investigation as Cadet Webster Smith was forced to do by Captain Douglas Wisniewski. Webster Smith was Black. John K. Miller is white. The senior officers making the decisions are all white. John K. Miller will get the benefit of the doubt and every presumption in his favor. His cadet photo will not be plastered all over the newspapers before any charges are filed, as was done to Webster Smith.
In another rape case involving a female cadet in the barracks at Chase Hall by a white member of the Academy football team in December 2005, the female third class cadet was also treated at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. A Forensic Evidence kit was compiled by the New London Police Department, but the incriminating evidence was confiscated by the Commandant of Cadets, Captain Douglas Wisniewski. That evidence was never seen again. The white male cadet perpetrator was never charged in a military or a civilian court. He was allowed to quietly resign. The Academy asserted primary jurisdiction in the case because the rape had occurred on a Federal Reservation in Chase Hall. New London police failed to prosecute. Informed sources say that that case is still open and that an investigation by the New London police department is on-going.
The ink was hardly dry on Admiral James Van Sice’s Approval of the Sentence in the Smith case when John Miller was arrested for sexual assault. The Assistant Superintendent, Captain D. R. May, said that the Smith case had shown the resolve and commitment to our system of military justice, accountability and most important, our true embodiment of the Coast Guard’s core values of Honor, Respect and Devotion to duty. He asserted that the Academy Superintendent would never waiver from his commitment to these precious values and will ensure that they are always present in all that is done at the Academy. That sounds like a zero tolerance policy.
It is really fortunate that the John Miller arrest for sexual assault will provide Captain May with a timely and appropriate opportunity to demonstrate his resolve. It is very likely that John Miller’s entire group will provide several opportunities to demonstrate how fast a court-martial can be assembled. In my experience nearly half or all of the people present at the Navy Lodge would have been Coast Guard Academy cadets.
In the 1960’s and going back much further, it was common practice for five or ten cadets to chip in and rent a motel room and party the weekend away. The girls invited were usually local girls or townies. In those days there were no female cadets at the Academy. Today, about one-third of the cadet corps is female. It is very likely that several of the females present at the raucous sexual affair were Coast Guard Academy cadets. They probably even contributed their share of the money to rent the rooms and to buy the alcoholic refreshments.
The Academy staff has been very slow in handling the paper work on these cases. It took over four months in the Smith case for Admiral Van Sice to just sign the Convening Authority Approval of the Report of Court-martial. It will be very interesting to see how fast he can mobilize his staff in the John Miller sexual assault case. How long will it take to assign an investigation team? How many witnesses will have to be interviewed? Who will be prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and who will get an administrative discharge?
The size and magnitude of this case could not have come at a worse time for the Academy. Captain Judy Keene has just taken over as Commandant of Cadets. She will not enjoy a honeymoon period. This case surely involves many female and male cadets. It is reasonable to assume that all of the cadets are seniors and juniors. Lower class cadets do not have the money or the resources to party off base. They have not made the contacts in the civilian community to pull it all together.
Also, this case will have to determine more than just who has committed a criminal act punishable under the UCMJ. There were physical injuries sustained. There will have to be a formal investigation into whether these actions were in the line of duty. This is a separate investigation, and is called a Misconduct Line of Duty Determination. That should keep a lot of investigators and lawyers busy for quite some time.