Fort Carson is south of Colorado Springs, covering more than 137,000 acres. Pikes Peak is to the west. Denver is 70 miles north on I-25.
The post is home to the 4th Infantry Division. The 4th ID went to Iraq and Afghanistan over and over through the GWOT. Carson also hosts the 10th Special Forces Group, the Army’s oldest SF group, the cold-weather and high-altitude operators who train for the missions nobody reads about.
Colorado Springs is right outside the gate, the second-largest city in the state, and the entire area has a heavy military identity. USAFA is 20 miles north, and Peterson and Schriever Space Force Bases are close by.
Fort Carson soldiers have been in the news often in recent years. A Special Forces soldier was arrested in a child-sex sting. Another soldier was arrested after allegations he assaulted a woman and pointed a gun at her during an argument at a local hotel. In August 2022, a soldier was arrested on CSAM charges after Tumblr reported apparent child pornography uploaded to a user account linked to his residence in Fountain, a town just south of the post.
OSTC at Fort Carson
Fort Carson is in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, along with Fort Sill, Fort Riley, Fort Leavenworth, and Fort Leonard Wood. Carson’s OSTC also has purview over Carson soldiers who get into trouble while on deployments or training missions (to Fort Irwin, for example).
The Army established the Office of Special Trial Counsel to prosecute serious criminal cases. OSTC operates under its own chain of command, reporting to the Secretary of the Army rather than installation commanders or convening authorities. The stated purpose is “to seek justice by independently and equitably evaluating criminal allegations and effectively prosecuting cases warranted by the evidence in the best interests of the Army community, while maintaining honest, clear communication with victims, the Army, and the public in order to promote trust in the military justice system.”
Their vision statement commits the office to “wise, informed judgment; skilled case management; and superior advocacy by professional, ethical, and engaged legal teams that continuously improve and actively pursue justice in accordance with Constitutional due process.” Military defense attorneys need to hold OSTC to both statements.
OSTC exercises authority over “covered offenses,” which include murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, domestic violence (including child endangerment), stalking, child pornography offenses, and most sexual assault and sexual misconduct offenses.
Like many other OSTC offices, Fort Carson OSTC tends to “defer” most of its cases to the command. It’s only interested in easy kills and will happily defer any case that threatens its success rate. OSTC’s purview is determined by the nature of the allegation, but the cases it keeps (known as “go-forwards”) will be driven by corroborating evidence more than the allegation itself: DNA, medical records, computer files, online behavior, confessions, and other incriminating communications like texts and pretext phone calls.
While most military defense attorneys limit themselves to giving the same advice as TDS counsel, which is to stay silent and hidden, a proactive counsel can be vastly more effective in the OSTC era. Gagne, Scherer & Associates intervenes early and communicates with Fort Carson OSTC frequently. Often the first call our attorneys make after being hired is to our contacts in that office. OSTC looks for any good reason to dump its cases, and we engage with them early to make sure favorable evidence and context gets to them long before CID completes its investigation. The goal is to avoid facing court-martial charges in the first place.
Gagne, Scherer & Associates UCMJ Cases at Fort Carson
Gagne, Scherer & Associates has handled cases at Fort Carson and other Colorado Springs bases since the 2000s.
Fort Carson SPC Falsely Accused of CSAM, Soldier Exonerated
A Fort Carson SPC was accused of possessing CSAM and communicating indecent language to a minor. It was a joint investigation between local cops and CID. After a few months, the Army initiated a separation against our client so he’d face the charges in civilian court. We intervened with exculpatory information CID never bothered to look for, and persuaded the command to pause the separation. The locals handed the case to the Army. Based on what we’d turned up, the Army took no action.
Fort Carson SSG Accused of Choking His Wife Separates With an Honorable
Just before his ETS, our client was accused of choking his wife at a family party and injuring her. We obtained sworn statements from witnesses who saw the incident and described consensual roughhousing the wife hadn’t complained about at the time. We also showed she was using the allegation for leverage in their divorce. The command passed on UCMJ action and routed it to an administrative separation board. Our schedule forced the board to be delayed several months. By the time our client’s flag was lifted, he had hit his ETS, the command was out of time to convene the board, and he separated with an Honorable.
Fort Carson PVT2 Stays in the Army After Charged With Desertion
During the GWOT, a Fort Carson private went AWOL and stayed gone for months. He was put in desertion status. Afraid of being arrested, he called us. We reached the first sergeant and the unit JAG and brokered our client’s self-surrender, then pushed for him to return to duty instead of taking the OTH that was the going rate for desertion. He turned himself in without incident, did good work while we lobbied for him, and after a long stretch of proving himself was allowed to stay, with no loss of rank.
FAQs About UCMJ Cases at Fort Carson
How are Article 120 (sexual assault) cases handled at Fort Carson?
The same way they’re handled Army-wide. The command refers the allegation to OSTC, and OSTC decides whether to keep it or send it back to the command for some other disposition. OSTC isn’t interested in the classic he said, she said case. They keep the ones with corroboration and defer the rest. The corroboration they look for is what’s noted above: medical evidence, DNA, incriminating statements, and any other strong proof that supports the she-said part of the case. But broadly speaking, a sexual assault allegation at Fort Carson isn’t charged or tried differently than at any other base.
What about a domestic violence charge (Article 128b) at Fort Carson?
Carson is a deployment-heavy base, and during wartime we see DV allegations that come out of the stress some soldiers experience when they redeploy. Because the UCMJ is applicable to the entire military, a DV case at Fort Carson will look like a DV case at other bases. As with an Article 120 allegation, OSTC will be happy to dump a DV case if it has reason to. An ex using the system to gain advantage in a family court case? That’s a good reason, especially if the allegation wasn’t made until the civil case started. But again, if there’s strong corroboration, OSTC will go forward on a DV case even if the ex’s motives are questionable.
How does Fort Carson handle CSAM and child-exploitation cases (Article 134)?
CID at Carson has on-site digital forensic capability, so they don’t have to ship the evidence to a lab in Hawaii or some other state for analysis. At Carson the analysis can be completed faster, which means a CSAM investigation there can be finished a bit sooner than at many other bases, though even at Fort Carson you’re still looking at a period of many months before a charging decision is made.
Do I need a civilian lawyer whose office is in Colorado Springs?
No. Military law is the same at Fort Carson as it is at Bragg, Hood, or a base in Germany. The rules of evidence and procedure are the same everywhere too. Even when a court-martial consists of Army JAGs and no civilian lawyers, it’s not uncommon for some of the JAGs to travel from another base. Judges often hop from base to base too. There are a few attorneys in Colorado Springs who take a court-martial now and then between their civilian cases. They might even be former JAGs. But a local office is irrelevant to success in military court. Success comes from volume. A lawyer who does military defense full-time, across every branch, will know what makes OSTC drop a case, because he’s working those cases constantly. The lawyer who takes a court-martial now and then between DUIs and divorces doesn’t, and the JAGs the local attorney knows from one case will be gone by the next time he goes on base.
What happens if I’m under investigation at Fort Carson but haven’t been charged?
Unfortunately, unless you hire a lawyer you’ll be on your own. TDS won’t give you a lawyer until you have been charged. During the investigation, you might face pressure from the MPs, CID, FAP, or a command investigator. During the investigation, CID can try to trap you with pretext calls and texts from your accuser and others. If you don’t have an attorney, you’ll be dealing with all of these threats on your own. Some soldiers choose to ride it out. Those who can afford to hire an experienced military defense lawyer should do it as early as possible.
Gagne, Scherer & Associates: Fort Carson UCMJ Lawyers
If you are stationed at Fort Carson and facing investigation, court-martial, or administrative action under the UCMJ, call an experienced civilian military lawyer at (224) 935-6172 for a confidential case review. We have defended service members at Fort Carson and other Colorado Springs military installations for twenty years and understand how OSTC cases are investigated and prosecuted there.