Jury recommends no punishment for Navy midshipman

<p>A military jury recommended no punishment Friday for former U.S. Naval Academy quarterback Lamar S. Owens Jr., who was acquitted of raping a female midshipman but convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer and disobeying a lawful order.</p><p>Academy superintendent Vice Admiral Rodney Rempt must now decide whether to punish Owens for violating academy rules, including prohibitions against having sex on campus and fratenizing with a member of his company, and violating a written order that he stay away from the vicinity of his accuser.</p><p>"We're going to have a discussion and the admiral will evaluate this case anew," said Reid Weingarten, Owens' civilian attorney.</p><p>Owens' did not speak to reporters. Weingarten said "We are thankful to God that justice was done."</p><p>The 22-year-old senior from Savannah, Ga., could have received anything from a written reprimand to dismissal on the two charges. Prosecutors had recommended a two-year sentence.</p><p>Owens' mother burst into tears when the decision was announced. His father leaned over a dividing wall and hugged him.</p><p>The five Naval Academy officers that served as his jury on Thursday found that Owens had consensual sex with a junior midshipman in her room at the academy's Bancroft Hall on Jan. 29. His accuser had claimed Owens entered her room uninvited and raped her after she blacked out.</p><p>Both Owens and his accuser testified that they had several drinks at separate locations in Baltimore and Annapolis in the hours before their early morning encounter, but other witnesses have said the young woman was seen having as many as nine drinks at a restaurant and later at an Annapolis bar favored by midshipmen.</p><p>Earlier Friday, Owens told the court he hoped to remain in the service.</p><p>"I still want to be a Naval officer," Owens told the panel of five officers convened for his court martial. "I deeply regret the unwanted attention that I brought to the Naval Academy," Owens said.</p><p>A senior, Owens expected to enter the Navy as an ensign assigned to surface warfare duties, but he was not allowed to graduate with his classmates in May. He has the credits to qualify for an economics degree. His status is in limbo until Rempt decides on his future, Owens' attorney said.</p><p>Last season, Owens led Navy's football team to an 8-4 record that included victories over military academy rivals Air Force and Army and a victory in the Poinsettia Bowl over Colorado State. He was the team's most valuable player.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/7/120211