Prosecutors dropped the assault case against midshipman Garrett Lee Holsen Wednesday, ending a nearly three-year legal saga that followed Holsen through most of his time at the Naval Academy and extended past his graduation.
In a statement, Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess wrote she made “the difficult decision” to terminate the case because the alleged victim was not able to participate in a retrial scheduled at the end of this month
“It was my privilege to represent her in this case as she is one of the strongest and most resilient people I have met in my career,” Leitess said.
Defense attorneys Peter O’Neill and Megan Coleman have challenged the state’s decision to retry the 22-year-old after he was found not guilty of rape in 2022. Prosecutors accused Holsen of attacking one of his classmates at an off-campus party when she was too intoxicated to consent to sex — a theory the jury rejected.
Keeping in line with instructions from Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Robert Thompson, however, the jury did not issue verdicts on third-degree sex offense and second-degree assault charges. Prosecutors took the rare step of appealing that decision and in December, the Appellate Court of Maryland ruled Thompson had “acted without authority” before sending the two remaining charges back to the circuit court for a retrial.
Across several hearings this year, Leitess, and assistant prosecutors Sean Fox and…
