MARYSVILLE, Calif. (Tribune News Service) — A former Beale Air Force Base senior airman convicted of sex crimes in 2014 is entitled to a rehearing on his sentence because prosecutors wrongly used evidence of other bad acts at his court-martial, according to a recent opinion from the U.S. Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals.

Marcus A. Mancini was found guilty of three specifications of sexual assault, two specifications of abusive sexual contact and one specification of indecent visual recording. The charges involved Mancini's contact with two women, one a senior airman and the other a civilian.

Mancini was acquitted of additional sexual misconduct with a third victim but was convicted of assaulting the civilian woman during a sexual encounter.

He was sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, seven years of confinement, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a reduction in rank.

The appeals court, in a 25-page decision, revealed prosecutors initially wanted to prosecute Mancini for infecting the three women with a sexually transmitted disease but did not proceed with those charges.

In throwing out some of the conviction, the appeals court said the military judge who oversaw Mancini's court-martial erred when he allowed "propensity evidence."

Propensity evidence is evidence that a defendant engaged in prior bad acts or prior bad behavior and is consequently more likely to engage in those bad acts or bad behavior again.

The court said the propensity evidence involving one of the assaults on a civilian woman should not have been admitted, so those convictions for sexual assault and abusive sexual contact against that victim were overturned.

Mancini "now stands convicted of sexually assaulting only one victim. This fact removes any argument that (Mancini) was a serial offender, an argument developed by the government's expert witness during sentencing when discussing factors which increase the offender's risk of recidivism," the appeals court said.

Mancini's civilian attorney, James Trieschmann, called the case a "notable win" on his website.

"The government violated (Mancini's) rights during trial, and the court set aside the charge of rape and the entire sentence," Trieschmann's website said.

In an email on Friday, Trieschmann said he will take Mancini's case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, alleging an illegal search of Mancini's cellphone and a violation of his right to remain silent.

In its opinion, the appeals court said Mancini was accused of taking cellphone photos of the woman he had sex with while she was asleep.

The female airman reported the sexual assault to her supervisor on "the mistaken belief based on her interaction with the wing's sexual assault response coordinator that her immediate supervisor could be notified without triggering the requirement for law enforcement involvement," the appeals court said.

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations then launched its investigation and had the female airman engage in a pretext phone call to see what Mancini would admit to, the opinion said.

The woman "immediately broke down after hearing the full extent of (Mancini's) sexual activity with her during this incident, so the pretext phone call was terminated," the opinion said.

Air Force investigators questioned Mancini about the location of the cellphone, and he told them. They took control of the cellphone "prior to obtaining the military magistrate's actual verbal authority to seize the phone," the appeals court said.

The military judge at the court-martial ruled that Air Force investigators violated Mancini's rights "when they questioned him about the location of his cellphone. However, the military judge determined that when (Mancini's) cellphone was improperly seized, it was inevitable that law enforcement would eventually gain the necessary legal authority to seize the phone in the near future," the appeals court said.

Still, the appeals court said it was "confident that when the illegality occurred, the government was actively pursuing leads that would have inevitably led to the lawful seizure of (the) phone."

The opinion also said Mancini was initially charged with infecting the three women with a sexually transmitted disease, but those charges were dropped.

"The staff judge advocate recommended against referral of these assault specifications. This recommendation was based on his belief that, while there was sufficient evidence (Mancini) transmitted (an) STD to the victims, the government would be unable to prove (he) knew he was infected with an STD when he assaulted the three victims," the opinion said.

CONTACT Harold Kruger at 749-4774.

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