Details Unfold After First Day of BG Jeffrey Sinclair's Hearing

According to the charges read Monday morning, Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair had licentious sexual escapades since 2008 with four women during his time in Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The first witness to take the stand in the third floor courtroom at Fort Bragg was Criminal Investigative Command Special Agent Leona Mansapit, currently assigned at Fort Lewis, Wa.

As a CID agent for nine years, Mansapit was the lead agent when Sinclair's case first went to investigation.

The defense lawyer Lt. Col. Jackie Thompson grilled her about reading privileged conversations in email traffic as she investigated the case. She confirmed that she executed a subpoena for his gmail account, that was created on March 21, 2011.

After the recess at 4p.m., the defense team started off with questions to determine if the judge, Maj. Gen. Perry L. Wiggins, could impartially try the case due to his connections to individuals involved in the hearing.

A defensive Wiggins confirmed that while he did serve with and know of the names mentioned in question, he was certain that he could provide an impartial authority in which to try the case.

Maj. Gen. James L. Huggins, formerly the Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division was next sworn in and questioned for nearly one hour by both the prosecuting and defense teams.

Huggins established that he first became aware of any issues with his subordinate, Jeffrey Sinclair, after an anonymous note had been placed under the door to his office.

He summed up that the letter was from a disgruntled soldier about Gen. Sinclair's and his aide's role of setting conditions for their team and dissatisfaction was expressed about preferential treatment that went on in Afghanistan.

"I used the letter as a teaching tool," said Huggins.

The two-star general told the court that he discussed the letter with the command group and leadership, in vague terms, and used it to open the door to talk about the challenges they all face as they assumed roles in Afghanistan.

It was not until the night of March 19 when Huggins became aware of the magnanimity of the situation when Gen. Sinclair's aide from the S2 shop came to him in a very emotional state - while Sinclair was away on R&R leave.

"She was exceptionally emotional, in tears, crying and fearful," recalled Huggins in speaking about the female captain who had admitted to him in the two-hour long meeting that she had been in a sexual relationship with Sinclair for the past three years.

The captain was Gen. Sinclair's Executive Officer in the G2 Section. She was the key leader leader engagement adviser while serving in Afghanistan under Sinclair. Described by Huggins as 'competent, intelligent and her performance was very good', the captain was eventually reassigned to Fort Huachuca, Az.

Huggins conveyed that the female was upset and came forward only after she felt like there had been hope for a long term relationship with the general officer - but after the aide had read an email revealing that Sinclair was not going to break it off with his spouse, she was devastated.

"She said she was physically threatened and that he (Sinclair) had used force on one occasion," Huggins said. It was later revealed that Sinclair had choked this captain according to a statement mentioned in the hearing.

Huggins explained that he had a duty to both protect the aide in his command by providing her with a battle buddy to remain watchful for her, by rooming with her, and also to report the allegations.

"I approached it from a misconduct perspective," said Huggins after being asked by the defense if he believed the aide's report was one of assault or adultery.

The two-star officer had previously worked with Gen. Sinclair and said that he came highly recommended to him in 2001 and had personally asked for him years later. Towards the end of the hearing, Huggins said that as a concerned peer, he had recommended that Sinclair seek help after all that he had been through.

The hearing ended with more questioning for Huggins concerning the possession of alcohol, gifts and the protocol about documenting them. Questions about pornography and travel for temporary duty were also broached as Lt. Col. William Helixon, the lead prosecutor tried to establish that Huggins was not aware of Sinclair's trip to Tucson, Az. where he stayed the night in a hotel with his aide.

Just after 5p.m. the prosecution team recommended to Maj. Gen. Perry Wiggins that the court be in recess until Tuesday morning when they would call in their next witness.

Perry agreed and announced that the hearing would reconvene at 7a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

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