THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 17, 1996 TAG: 9608170258
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SAN ANTONIO LENGTH: 50 lines
An Air Force major was acquitted of having a lesbian affair in a verdict that her lawyer said will prevent others from trying to ruin military careers with allegations of homosexual behavior.
Maj. Debra L. Meeks, 41, cried and hugged her lawyers after a five-man, two-woman military panel acquitted her late Thursday of sodomy and conduct unbecoming an officer. She faced dismissal from the military, loss of her retirement benefits and up to eight years in jail if convicted.
``I'm just glad this nightmare is over,'' she said.
Pamela Dillard, a civilian, had claimed that she and Meeks engaged in oral sex and had a two-year live-in lesbian affair. The charges were brought against the major after Dillard claimed that Meeks threatened her at gunpoint if she told anyone about their relationship.
Defense lawyers argued that Dillard made up the claims of a lesbian romance and that she was bent on destroying Meeks' career.
Defense attorney Michael Tigar said that just because Dillard lived in Meeks' home while Dillard did free-lance work and studied for an exam to enter medical school did not mean the two had an affair.
``We sent a message,'' Tigar said, ``and the message is that if charges of this kind are to be brought against a distinguished member of the military, those who bring them had better be prepared to back them up.''
The military's 1994 ``don't ask, don't tell'' rule permits gays to serve as long as they don't have sex with service members and keep their sexual orientation and conduct private.
Meeks should not have had to fight charges that ``should be of no concern to the military,'' said Beatrice Dohrn, legal director of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.
An officer with 19 years of active-duty service, Meeks declined to discuss her military future or her sexual orientation.
Meeks would have faced dismissal from the military, loss of her retirement benefits and up to eight years in a military jail if she had been convicted. She had refused a plea bargain offer by prosecutors that she plead guilty to an assault charge. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Air Force Maj. Debra L. Meeks leaves a courtroom at Lackland Air
Force Base near San Antonio late Thursday, followed by two of her
attorneys. A civilian woman had claimed to be Meeks' former lover.
KEYWORDS: GAYS IN THE MILITARY HOMOSEXUAL LESBIAN by CNB