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Morrison court-martial set for April 2

The court-martial of a former Naval Academy football player accused of sexually assaulting two female midshipmen last year begins April 2 at the Washington Navy Yard.

Charging statements say Midshipman 1st Class Kenny Ray Morrison, 24, had sex with a female midshipman in February 2006 at a Washington, D.C., hotel, and with a second midshipman, now a Marine second lieutenant, at his sponsor’s home two months later. Prosecutors say neither woman consented to sex with him.

But in December, authorities dropped rape and drug distribution charges against Morrison after a toxicologist testified that hair samples from both accusers showed no significant traces of date rape drugs that could be linked to Morrison.

Morrison is also charged with two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. He could face 10 years in prison if he is convicted on both indecent assault counts; the maximum sentence for each conduct-unbecoming charge will be determined based on the judge’s characterization of the assault charges, but will likely be the same as the indecent assault charges.

Both of Morrison’s accusers testified at a November Article 32 hearing. One woman said she repeatedly told Morrison she did not want to have sex during three encounters in the same hotel room. She said she was too weak to resist by force.

“I remember putting my hand between my legs,” she said. “I continued to say, ‘No, I can’t do this.’ He said, ‘No, it’s OK.’”

The other said she woke up naked and in pain next to Morrison. She testified that she does not remember a significant chunk of the night, but said she was not attracted to Morrison, did not know him, and felt disgusted the next morning.

Morrison has not testified, but supporters — who point out that Washington prosecutors refused to pursue the case because of flimsy evidence — argue that Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt is using criminal prosecutions to make examples of male midshipmen in order to prove that the Academy is a safe place for female students.

Morrison is the second midshipman, and second football player, to have been charged with rape within the past year. The other, Midshipman 1st Class Lamar Owens, was acquitted of raping a female midshipman last July, although he was convicted of two lesser, related charges: conduct unbecoming an officer and disobeying a lawful order.

Jurors recommended that Owens not be punished, but Rempt has recommended that he be expelled from the Academy without the degree that he has academically qualified for.

Bill Ferris, Morrison’s civilian defense lawyer, has asked Rempt to recuse himself as convening authority in Morrison’s case because of allegations of improper command influence and bias, but Rempt has refused to step down.