Jury selection begins in Air Force general sexual assault trial

Jury selection began Tuesday with the opening of the military trial of a two-star Air Force general accused of sexually assaulting a female officer at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys began interviewing 13 generals to determine who can fairly examine the case of Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart, the former head of Air Force pilot training. He faces charges of allegedly touching the genitals of an unnamed woman without her consent during a business trip to Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma in April 2023, having an extramarital affair and taking control of a plane after consuming alcohol.

Stewart was charged in September 2023 with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of dereliction of duty, conduct unbecoming a public official, and extramarital sexual conduct. If convicted, he faces up to 63 years in prison.

This trial marks the first time an Air Force general has faced a jury in a court-martial, and the second time in about two years that an Air Force general has faced a sexual assault charge in a military court.

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Stewart pleaded not guilty in a military court in March, saying the interaction was entirely consensual. Prosecutors argued that the unbalanced power dynamic left the officer no choice but to accept his advances, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Before his confession, Stewart had sought to recuse himself rather than face a court-martial, but his request for a court-martial was denied. He will now be tried by a jury of his peers rather than just a military judge.

The commission must be made up of Air Force officers who rank higher than Stewart or other major generals who received a second star before him. The pool of officers eligible is small: Only 68 two-, three- and four-star generals were available for selection, according to the Express-News.

Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson, the commander of the Air Education and Training Command and Stewart’s superior, selected the 13 potential jurors, who arrived in Texas for further evaluation. Ultimately, attorneys will appoint a panel of eight jurors to hear the case in the coming days.

Military law requires that convening authorities like Robinson, who have certain legal powers in court-martial proceedings, must select potential jurors who are best suited to the task by reason of their age, education, experience, length of service, and temperament.

Three of the potential jurors are women, two are black, according to the Express-News. The rest are white men.

They include Air Force Deputy Surgeon General Maj. Gen. John DeGoes and Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, Express-News reported.

The general voir dire examination, in which the judge and attorney question potential jurors about their impartiality during the trial, has ended. Now the prosecution and defense can ask more questions until the eight-person jury is complete.

Two jurors were dismissed after questioning Tuesday because the defense objected to what they believed was an alleged bias, said Col. Jennifer Clay, deputy chief justice of the Air Education and Training Command.

It is still unclear how long jury selection will take, but opening arguments are expected to begin next Monday in a courtroom in San Antonio.

Don Christensen, a retired Air Force colonel and former chief prosecutor, noted that availability was likely the deciding factor in who was considered for jurors.

“Every time an officer is relieved of his duties, it impacts the entire Air Force,” he said.

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Familiarity with the parties involved can also play a role in the rejection of potential jurors, says Christensen: “There are not many generals, and they know each other pretty well.”

Having prior knowledge or an opinion on the case could also lead to dismissal, but since most generals would probably already be aware of a trial of this magnitude, this may not be such a big red flag, he added.

He also noted that many of the potential jurors may have experience as convening bodies themselves, which could make panel selection even more difficult if the candidates are intimately familiar with the process.

Only two other Air Force generals have entered the court-martial process. One of them, Maj. Gen. Donald Kaufman, was charged in a 1992 court-martial, but his case was dismissed and never brought before a jury, Air Force Times previously reported. Kaufman, who was accused of taking enemy AK-47 assault rifles as trophies from the Gulf War, was demoted to colonel and retired.

The second, Maj. Gen. Bill Cooley, the former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, retired as a colonel last June after being convicted of sexual assault for forcibly kissing his brother’s wife. He has filed an appeal with the Air Force Court of Appeals.