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Washington Post
April 23, 2008
Pg. B2
Woman Tells Court Man Was Drunk
By Steve Vogel, Washington Post Staff Writer
Crying and wiping her face, a Naval Academy sophomore testified yesterday that she awoke one night last fall to find a classmate atop her on her bunk.
Midshipman Mark A. Calvanico, a junior whom the woman was considering dating, had been drinking and had already made two visits to her room in Bancroft Hall early Oct. 14 to talk, she testified. But on the third visit, she said, he pinned her arms down.
"I was telling him to get off me," said the woman, testifying at a hearing at the Washington Navy Yard.
"He raped me -- what do you want me to say?" she said, her voice breaking.
Calvanico, 21, a junior from Secaucus, N.J., is accused of rape, indecent assault, indecent acts and conduct unbecoming an officer. Yesterday's hearing will help determine whether he faces a court-martial.
Calvanico has denied having sexual intercourse with the woman, and his attorney said that while the students had some physical contact that night, it was consensual.
"She was trying to commit to a long-term relationship, he's trying to make out with her," attorney Michael Waddington said during the hearing. "This case rises and falls on the lack of physical and forensic evidence and the lack of witness credibility," he said later.
The Washington Post does not identify possible victims of sexual assault.
The woman's roommate, who was in the room at the time of the incident, testified that she saw the two kissing earlier and heard them arguing, but did not hear a struggle.
A week before the incident, Calvanico sent the woman a digital photograph of his ***** via his cellphone. The Navy charges that the act constituted "conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman."
The woman did not deny that she requested the photograph. "I knew what I was getting," she said.
The defense later pointed to that statement. "She, a 20-year-old girl, is asking the guy to send a picture of his *****," Waddington told the court. "Maybe that's what kids do these days, but that says a lot about her involvement."
Agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service testified that a forensics examination of Calvanico's boxer shorts showed evidence of the woman's DNA. But no sperm, semen or other DNA evidence was found in vaginal swabs, or on her shorts, sheets or blankets. Doctors did not detect any bruising, swelling or other indications of forcible intercourse, according to the testimony.
On Oct. 13, Waddington said, the students were supposed to go to a movie, but Calvanico instead spent the evening drinking with friends. It was about 3 a.m. Oct. 14 when he went to the woman's room.
"Before I rolled over, I could see them kissing," the woman's roommate testified. The contact "appeared to be consensual," she said.
Calvanico left to check on his roommate, according to testimony, and returned a short time later. Calvanico's accuser said he tried to pull her into a kiss and she pushed him away. "He was drunk and very forceful," she said.
Calvanico visited a third time, and that is when the rape occurred, the woman said. Her protests and struggling were ignored, she said. "He told me if I didn't shut up, he would do the same thing to [my roommate]," she said.
The roommate, who said she was "half awake," testified that she heard "rustling" noises and some arguing. "I didn't really think there was a problem aside from an argument over a relationship," she said.
The woman testified that after Calvanico left, she went to the room of another female midshipman who urged her to report the incident.
Lt. John Clady, the officer hearing the case, pressed for details. "You remember a lot of things, but there are some critical things you don't remember," he told her. Clady will make a recommendation to the Naval Academy superintendent, who will decide whether to proceed with a court-martial.
April 23, 2008
Pg. B2
Woman Tells Court Man Was Drunk
By Steve Vogel, Washington Post Staff Writer
Crying and wiping her face, a Naval Academy sophomore testified yesterday that she awoke one night last fall to find a classmate atop her on her bunk.
Midshipman Mark A. Calvanico, a junior whom the woman was considering dating, had been drinking and had already made two visits to her room in Bancroft Hall early Oct. 14 to talk, she testified. But on the third visit, she said, he pinned her arms down.
"I was telling him to get off me," said the woman, testifying at a hearing at the Washington Navy Yard.
"He raped me -- what do you want me to say?" she said, her voice breaking.
Calvanico, 21, a junior from Secaucus, N.J., is accused of rape, indecent assault, indecent acts and conduct unbecoming an officer. Yesterday's hearing will help determine whether he faces a court-martial.
Calvanico has denied having sexual intercourse with the woman, and his attorney said that while the students had some physical contact that night, it was consensual.
"She was trying to commit to a long-term relationship, he's trying to make out with her," attorney Michael Waddington said during the hearing. "This case rises and falls on the lack of physical and forensic evidence and the lack of witness credibility," he said later.
The Washington Post does not identify possible victims of sexual assault.
The woman's roommate, who was in the room at the time of the incident, testified that she saw the two kissing earlier and heard them arguing, but did not hear a struggle.
A week before the incident, Calvanico sent the woman a digital photograph of his ***** via his cellphone. The Navy charges that the act constituted "conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman."
The woman did not deny that she requested the photograph. "I knew what I was getting," she said.
The defense later pointed to that statement. "She, a 20-year-old girl, is asking the guy to send a picture of his *****," Waddington told the court. "Maybe that's what kids do these days, but that says a lot about her involvement."
Agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service testified that a forensics examination of Calvanico's boxer shorts showed evidence of the woman's DNA. But no sperm, semen or other DNA evidence was found in vaginal swabs, or on her shorts, sheets or blankets. Doctors did not detect any bruising, swelling or other indications of forcible intercourse, according to the testimony.
On Oct. 13, Waddington said, the students were supposed to go to a movie, but Calvanico instead spent the evening drinking with friends. It was about 3 a.m. Oct. 14 when he went to the woman's room.
"Before I rolled over, I could see them kissing," the woman's roommate testified. The contact "appeared to be consensual," she said.
Calvanico left to check on his roommate, according to testimony, and returned a short time later. Calvanico's accuser said he tried to pull her into a kiss and she pushed him away. "He was drunk and very forceful," she said.
Calvanico visited a third time, and that is when the rape occurred, the woman said. Her protests and struggling were ignored, she said. "He told me if I didn't shut up, he would do the same thing to [my roommate]," she said.
The roommate, who said she was "half awake," testified that she heard "rustling" noises and some arguing. "I didn't really think there was a problem aside from an argument over a relationship," she said.
The woman testified that after Calvanico left, she went to the room of another female midshipman who urged her to report the incident.
Lt. John Clady, the officer hearing the case, pressed for details. "You remember a lot of things, but there are some critical things you don't remember," he told her. Clady will make a recommendation to the Naval Academy superintendent, who will decide whether to proceed with a court-martial.