A U.S. Navy pilot whose conviction for strangling his fianceé was overturned by an appeals court last summer pleaded guilty earlier this month to a charge of assault consummated by a battery for the same incident, according to the Navy.

Lt. Cmdr. Jason Doyle initially pleaded guilty in April 2019 to aggravated assault for strangling his fiancée in Florida in December 2017.

He was sentenced to a reprimand, nine months’ confinement and dismissal from the sea service.

But last August, the Navy-Marine Corps Criminal Court of Appeals threw out that decision and called for a rehearing after ruling that the trial judge failed to properly define the level of force Doyle exerted upon the woman.

At a general court-martial rehearing on March 8, Doyle pleaded guilty as part of a pre-trial agreement to assault consummated by a battery, according to Navy Region Northwest spokeswoman Liane Nakahara.

RELATED

Doyle was sentenced to six months of confinement and total forfeitures, but he received credit for the nine months he previously served, she said, adding that the pre-trial agreement contained a waiver of Doyle’s right to a board of inquiry.

Doyle’s Navy attorney, Cmdr. Justin Henderson, called this latest trial result “another step toward a just and fair resolution of this matter.”

Henderson added that the December 2017 incident “was totally outside (Doyle’s) character.”

Doyle was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, when he met the victim, referred to in records as “DG,” at a bar in 2016. They got engaged seven months later, according to last summer’s appeals court decision.

He received orders to Whidbey Island, Washington, the following year, and the two maintained a long-distance relationship that had become rocky by December 2017, the ruling states.

“The week before (Doyle) assaulted DG, (Doyle) found an overnight bag from an unknown male in their bathroom,” the appeal ruling states.

During his first trial, Doyle told the judge that things turned physical on Dec. 19, 2017, after DG called him a “passive pussy” and “not an aggressive man,” according to the appeal.

DG had two kids from a past relationship and told Doyle he was “too nice,” the appeal ruling states.

“That I wasn’t aggressive enough, that … she was attracted to assholes, and I was not that,” Doyle told the judge.

“I’m not saying she asked for it … but … I thought okay, well, she wants me to be aggressive,” he continued. “And I put my hands around her neck … asking her if that’s what she wanted.”

When St. Johns County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at DG’s home, she had injuries to her neck consistent with being choked, plus “a noticeable knot on her forehead from an unknown cause which occurred during the physical altercation,” according to a sheriff’s office report.

Defense attorney Henderson said Doyle has since “done everything in his power to make amends for that mistake.”

“(Doyle) immediately resolved both civil and criminal cases in Florida, successfully completed a voluntary counseling program, and complied with the onerous financial terms of a settlement agreement proposed by his ex-fiancée, all with his command’s full visibility and oversight,” Henderson wrote in a statement to Navy Times.

While Doyle currently remains in the Navy, he expects the service to separate him at some point, a move he won’t fight as part of the terms of his pre-trial agreement, Henderson said.

Geoff is the editor of Navy Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.

Share:
In Other News
Load More