Jury finds man not guilty of assaulting woman at U.S. research station in Antarctica

A federal jury on Wednesday discovered a person not responsible of assaulting a girl at a U.S. analysis station in Antarctica in a case that drew consideration amid experiences of harassment and assault on the station.

Stephen Tyler Bieneman pulled tissues from a field on the protection desk and cried as every juror was polled and stated they discovered him not responsible of misdemeanor assault in reference to an incident final November at McMurdo Station. Jurors deliberated for 1-1/2 hours after a day through which Bieneman testified that he did not provoke the incident or hurt the lady.

“It is taken an enormous toll on my status,” he stated outdoors the courtroom. “This vindicates him,” stated his lawyer, Birney Bervar.

The decision got here amid elevated scrutiny of McMurdo. An Related Press investigation in August uncovered a sample of girls at McMurdo who stated their claims of sexual harassment or assault have been minimized by their employers, usually resulting in them or others being put in additional hazard.

Final week, the watchdog workplace overseeing the Nationwide Science Basis stated it was sending investigators to McMurdo because it expands its investigative mission to incorporate alleged crimes comparable to sexual assault and stalking.

Assistant U.S. Lawyer Mohammad Khatib instructed jurors this week in U.S. District Court docket in Honolulu that Bieneman acquired on high of the lady after she took his nametag from his coat as a joke. The prosecutor stated Bieneman pinned her down and put his shin throughout her throat, stopping her from with the ability to breathe.

In his closing argument Wednesday, Khatib stated Bieneman may have critically injured or killed the lady.

Bieneman, a area security coordinator educated in conducting searches and rescues, testified that the lady “type of instantly acquired in my face” when he returned to a dormitory lounge after celebrating his birthday and Thanksgiving with a bunch. In accordance with his testimony, she had cursed at him and was upset she wasn’t invited to the gathering.

At one level he left the lounge to return a key to a hut he used for the occasion. When he returned, he seen one of many alcoholic seltzers he left behind was open. He stated he requested the lady if she took it, and he or she stated she additionally took his nametag.

“I stated, ‘Hey that is not cool … please give it again,'” Bieneman testified. “She stated, ‘You are going to should combat me for it.'” He stated she grabbed his arms and fell onto her again whereas holding on to him.

“She was utilizing all of her energy towards me to stop me from getting my nametag again,” he testified.

Bieneman denied placing his shin on her neck.

“Not solely did I not assault her, I used to be attempting my absolute hardest to not harm her,” he stated.

Dr. Christopher Martinez, the doctor who later examined the lady, testified Wednesday that he had expressed doubts that she was assaulted. Beneath cross-examination by Khatib, the physician denied trivializing her complaints of ache.

After the incident, Bieneman was despatched to a distant icefield the place he was tasked with defending the security of a professor and three younger graduate college students. He remained there for a full week after a warrant for his arrest was issued, paperwork obtained by the AP present.

The professor wrote in a criticism that Bieneman was “domineering and important” of the 2 feminine graduate college students on the camp and that he instructed them he had had a combat with a girl at McMurdo. The professor wrote that they have been astounded to seek out he was assigned to the workforce when it was already identified that he was beneath investigation.

Bieneman stated outdoors of courtroom that he was stunned by the professor’s criticism. “I believed I had an excellent relationship with them,” he stated. “I felt I saved them secure and labored laborious.”

The Nationwide Science Basis declined to reply AP’s questions on why Bieneman was despatched out into the sphere in a essential security function whereas beneath investigation. The case raised additional questions on decision-making within the U.S. Antarctic Program, which is beneath scrutiny.

Bervar, Bieneman’s lawyer, stated after the trial that the scrutiny unfairly led to his shopper being charged.

The prosecutor stated he was dissatisfied by the decision. “We felt like we had a righteous case,” Khatib stated.

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