
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 27, 1993                   TAG: 9310270153
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Short

NAVY CLEARS 2 TAILHOOK SUSPECTS

The Navy cleared two more senior officers Tuesday of any Tailhook wrongdoing, and the attorney for a Navy commander said his client may avoid a court-martial.

But the trial of a junior officer, Lt. David Samples, was set to open today at the Norfolk Naval Base. Samples, 28, is accused of stripping the clothes off a woman at the 1991 Tailhook Association meeting in Las Vegas.

Capt. William T. Vest, the military judge in Samples' case, rejected motions for dismissal or delays Monday and Tuesday.

Samples would be the first Navy officer to stand trial in the scandal.

A Pentagon report on the 1991 gathering said 83 women were assaulted. About 50 Navy and Marine Corps officers have received administrative punishments.

Vice Adm. Paul Reason decided this week to take no punitive action against Cmdrs. Gregory E. Peairs and Robert C. Yakeley. - Associated Press

by CNB