Michael Brown Okinawa Assault Incident - Crime and Arrest

Crime and Arrest

Early in the morning of November 2, 2002, a female employee of the Camp Courtney officers' club on Okinawa drove up to the Courtney main gate and reported to base security personnel that a Marine Corps major had just attempted to sexually assault her in her car on a deserted road near the back gate of the base. She identified the Marine as Major Michael Brown and stated that during the assault the major threw her mobile phone into the nearby Tengan River. The woman was later identified as V. N. who was 40 years old, and originally from the Philippines, had lived in Okinawa for 17 years, and was married to a Japanese citizen of Okinawan descent. She reported that she had picked up Brown in her car about 1:30 a.m. after the officers' club closed and that he directed her to the deserted road behind the base and after parking, Brown tried to rape her and then threw her mobile phone into the river when she tried to call the police. The Camp Courtney security personnel called the Japanese National Police Agency (NPA). Japanese officers came and took V. N.'s report.

Michael Brown was at the time 39 years old, was married, had two small children, and was a 19-year Marine veteran assigned to the command element of the III Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Courtney on his second tour on Okinawa. Brown voluntarily underwent several hours of questioning at the JNP station in Gushikawa. He told Japanese police investigators that V. N. had propositioned him for sex and that, when he refused, a physical altercation ensued. During the altercation, Brown said, V. N. took his wallet and Brown grabbed her mobile phone, which he, "out of frustration," proceeded to toss into the nearby river. Brown stated that V. N. drove away but returned a few minutes later and gave his wallet back to him. Both Brown's and V. N.'s accounts agreed that V. N. had originally picked up Brown in her car after meeting him for the first time at the base officers' club that evening. Both stated that V. N. had agreed to give Brown, who was intoxicated, a ride home.

On December 3, 2002, the JNP issued a warrant for Brown's arrest. The Japanese government asked that Brown be turned over to Japanese authorities immediately. Although the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement stated that service members would only be turned over to Japanese law enforcement if formally indicted, the U.S. had agreed to give "sympathetic consideration" for serious crimes in response to the 1995 Okinawan rape incident, in which a U.S. Navy sailor and two Marines raped a 12-year old Okinawan girl.

The United States, in this case, decided not to turn Brown over to the Japanese authorities before he was formally indicted and restricted Brown to base on Camp Courtney. On December 9, the JNP filed formal charges against Brown and, on December 19, he was formally indicted on charges of attempted rape and destruction of private property. The next day, Brown, escorted by U.S. Marine Corps military police, was turned over to the custody of Japanese police at the Naha detention center. When asked why they had waited ten days after the formal charges to indict Brown, Japanese Deputy Chief Prosecutor Junichi Okumura stated that they wanted to give Brown a chance to apologize (called jidan in Japanese) to the victim. Since that apparently did not occur and V. N. still expressed a desire to press charges, the Japanese authorities went ahead with the indictment.

On December 25, Naha District Court judge Yayoi Ikeda (池田 弥生, Ikeda Yayoi?) denied bail for Brown because, "there was concern that he (Brown) might try to destroy evidence or intimidate witnesses if he was set free." Ikeda also said that she was concerned over the seriousness of the charges and the large discrepancy between the statements of Brown and V. N.. Brown was represented at the hearing by a local Japanese defense attorney, Masayuki Akamine (赤嶺 允之, Akamine Masayuki?). Akamine reported that Brown's family in the United States had begun jidan negotiations with the victim. At this time, Brown's brother also launched a website to protest Brown's detention and to complain about what he perceived to be unfair treatment of Brown by the Japanese courts. Brown later reported that Japanese prison officials "admonished" him over the launching of the protest website by his family.

On January 9, 2003, bail was denied for Brown by the same judge for a second time. Brown then appealed the bail decision to a three-judge panel of the Naha court who upheld the denial of bail on January 16. The Naha court scheduled Brown's trial to begin on March 13, but later changed the date to May 26 because of delays incurred by legal motions filed by Brown's attorneys. The trial was expected to last for some time because, under the procedures of the Japanese justice system, trial hearings are usually only conducted for one or two days a month.