GOMOR for Domestic Violence: Locally Filed
An Army Officer in a tumultuous marriage with a Colombian National was charged by civilian authorities with domestic violence offenses. While defending himself in the civilian criminal justice system, the Command gave him a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR) for the same alleged conduct.
The young and promising Officer retained Military Defense Lawyer, John L. Calcagni III, to represent him, first while under investigation by local police, and then to rebut the GOMOR. Attorney Calcagni first helped place his client in contact with a well-respected criminal defense lawyer in the local community where he was stationed.
The attorney negotiated a resolution of the charges that allowed the Officer to maintain his innocence and called for dismissal of the charges after one year. Attorney Calcagni then drafted a response to the GOMOR highlighting the Officer’s presumption of innocence and lack of criminal conviction by the civilian court.
He also attacked the reliability of the biased and self-interested wife’s claims, which were both contradicted and unsupported by objective, independent evidence.
Because of these efforts, the General Officer who issue the GOMOR directed that it be filed in the Officer’s local personnel file, so it would not adversely impact his military career.