An Air Force two-star general pleaded guilty to two lesser charges as his court-martial for sexual assault started Monday in Texas, after trial counsel worked through the weekend to sit a panel of eight high-ranking officers for his jury.
Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart, the former commander of the 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio, pleaded guilty to pursuing an unprofessional relationship with a subordinate and adultery. The two-star general still faces charges of sexual assault, dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming an officer.
Stewart has had a rocky start to his legal proceedings. Jury selection, which was supposed to begin June 17, was delayed a day due to administrative proceedings. But the process of selecting a qualified panel of eight generals of the same or higher rank dragged into the weekend.
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The selection of the general officers for the jury was a difficult task rarely seen in an Air Force court-martial. With the service’s limited pool of higher-ranking officers, the trial counsel originally managed to pull together a total of 13 generals, but still could not fill a panel by the middle of last week.
Sherilyn Bunn, Stewart’s senior defense counsel, told Military.com in an emailed statement last week that it was frustrating that Air Education and Training Command was not better prepared to fill a jury panel in a…
