The first ever military trial of an Air Force general began Tuesday with the accused officer's sister-in-law testifying that he forcibly kissed and groped her in 2018.
Maj. Gen. William Cooley has been charged with violating Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the article prohibiting sexual assault, Military.com reports.
His case marks the first court-martial for an Air Force general and the first time sexual assault charges have led to criminal prosecution for someone so high up in the chain of command.
The first day of testimony at Cooley's court-martial included military prosecutors and Cooley's defense lawyers making opening statements.
Cooley on Monday requested the case be heard only by the judge, Col. Christina Jimenez, rather than a jury.
Former head of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, Cooley faces up to 21 years of confinement, as well as dismissal from the service and loss of rank, pay and benefits, if convicted.
On Tuesday, prosecutors said that Cooley's "selfish ego couldn't take it" when his sexual advances were rejected by his sister-in-law.
The defense argued that "this case is about a consensual kiss and nothing more."
Cooley's accuser took the stand as the first witness, testifying for nearly five hours under direct examination by prosecutors and cross examination by defense lawyers, Military.com said.
In the prosecutors and sister-in-law's telling, Cooley forced himself on her after an August 2018 family barbecue in Albuquerque, New Mexico, telling her in lurid detail what sexual acts he wanted from her and later acknowledged in a letter that his actions were "deplorable."
"The evidence will show that he violated [his sister-in-law] in an uninvited way," prosecutor Maj. Abbigayle Hunter said in her opening statement, Military.com reported.
"It will show that he committed three different acts [of] abusive sexual contact and will show that the accused in this case, ma'am, is guilty."
Cooley and his defense team maintain the encounter consisted of only a consensual kiss. They said the sister-in-law changed her story over time, and mentioned a voicemail shortly after the incident when she compared the situation to the romantic comedy "Love Actually."
"The only just and right outcome in this case is to find Gen. Cooley not guilty," defense attorney Maj. Lindsey North said in her opening statement.
The case marks the first time criminal charges against an Air Force general officer have reached a court-martial.
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