The situations at Fort Bragg and the Naval Academy are the products of a breakdown in this lawyer-centric system. Military lawyers were responsible for the advice that allowed the commander to send the sexual assault allegations to trial. Military lawyers were also responsible for the presentations of evidence that resulted in an acquittal in one case and a surprisingly light sentence in the other. An enormous amount of time and money was invested in each of these cases — the result of over-zealous prosecutions, incompetent presentations or both. In any case, it's the lawyers who are to blame for the failure to either stop a weak case or win a strong one.