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Subpoena for CBS News interviews “sends a chilling message” to victims in sexual abuse case against Army doctor, advocates say
Advocates for victims of sexual assault are speaking out against an effort by lawyers for an Army doctor, accused of abusing more than 40 patients, to obtain unbroadcast footage of CBS News interviews with two of his accusers ahead of court martial proceedings against him.
The defense has demanded CBS News turn over unaired footage from interviews conducted with two retired soldiers who spoke to CBS News, with their faces in shadow and their identities protected, in a report that first aired on “CBS Mornings” in February. In the broadcast interviews, the two men described alleged misconduct that occurred under the guise of medical care from Maj. Michael Stockin.
“Survivors have already faced unimaginable trauma,” said Josh Connolly, senior vice president of the victims’ advocacy group Protect Our Defenders. “Their courage in sharing their stories should be met with unwavering support and protection, not further exposure and risk.”
Connolly said the subpoena seeking CBS News’ footage “risks undermining the trust and safety that survivors deserve, and it sends a chilling message to others who may be considering coming forward.”
CBS News reached out to the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel, which declined to comment, saying they have not seen the statement from Protect Our Defenders.
Stockin, an anesthesiologist at the pain management clinic at Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, faces 47 counts of abusive sexual contact and five counts of indecent viewing under the Military Code of Justice, involving 41 alleged victims who were his patients, according to the Army. Stockin was arraigned on the charges in February.
The Army says that Stockin remains suspended from patient care but still has administrative duties at Madigan Medical Center in a non-clinical area. The trial in this case is scheduled for January 2025.
Stockin has entered a plea of not guilty.
In a statement to CBS News, Brad Simon, an attorney for Stockin, said that the defense is “entitled to all statements” from the alleged victims about their allegations.
“This evidence is vital for the Defense to properly prepare for trial and to ensure that Major Stockin’s rights are upheld. It’s unconstitutional to suggest that the Defense is not entitled to the statements made by the alleged victims themselves about their own allegations,” Simon said. “The victim advocates suggesting this denial of evidence wish to deny Major Stockin a fair trial and that should terrify every person who believes in the due process of law.”
An Army judge will hear arguments Thursday on the CBS News motion for the court to reject the defense’s demand for the unaired interview footage. In response, defense attorneys for Stockin are asking the judge in the case to deny that request, claiming “this evidence is vital to MAJ Stockin receiving a fair trial,” according to a court filing on the matter.
Both of the men who spoke with CBS News earlier this year have shared their allegations with military investigators and anticipate that they would eventually be publicly identified as victims at trial as part of the criminal case pending against Stockin. They spoke with CBS News with the condition that they not be identified, saying they feared retaliation. CBS News recorded the interviews in shadow and did not identify them by name in its broadcast.
In asking the military judge to throw out the subpoena, attorneys for CBS News argued the interviews with confidential sources should be protected under widely accepted reporter’s privilege and that the request was “nothing more than a fishing expedition.”
“That privilege protects journalists against the compelled disclosure of their confidential sources and unpublished newsgathering material, like the unpublished footage here that implicates CBS’s confidential sources,” wrote Michael Berry, an attorney representing CBS News.
In a court filing on the matter, prosecutors said, “There is nothing in the aired footage that indicates the alleged victims stated anything inconsistent with any prior statements. “
However, the government has requested the judge review the unaired footage in chambers “to discern the relevance, if any, of that footage.”
One of the men,who sought the doctor’s help on a referral to manage arthritis in his shoulders, said he was at first “very confused” by Stockin’s examination.
“Myself and Dr. Stockin were left alone in the room. He first checked my shoulders and then he asked me to stand up and to pull down my pants and lift up my gown,” he said. “Dr. Stockin, he was face level with my groin, and he started touching my genitals.”
The other, said he was sexually abused by Stockin on three occasions and described a similar experience of receiving what he called an “alternate assessment.” He said he struggled to understand why this visit was unlike any he had previously encountered with a physician.
“Even with my wife I couldn’t bring myself to talk through what happened,” he said, “It just felt very uncomfortable.”
In a statement to CBS News, Ryan Guilds, a civilian attorney who represents the men who were interviewed, said,”The Army has a trust problem with victims. And this doesn’t help.”
“The Government’s willingness to subpoena confidential anonymous victim interactions with the press is just the latest example of a military justice system that treats victims with ambivalence and disrespect – placing the burden on victims not just to come forward but to fight for their own privacy and justice,” Guilds said.
The government is “the only party with the authority to issue such subpoenas in courts-martial,” according to a filing by Stockin’s attorneys. In this case, the Army says that they served CBS News at the request of the defense, according to a court filing from CBS News.
The filing goes on to explain that Maj. Ryan Keeter from the prosecutor’s office told attorneys for CBS News that neither the defense nor the prosecuting teams know the identities of the alleged victims who spoke with CBS News, and that the defense was seeking the information to possibly raise questions in cross-examination about any inconsistencies in their statements.
“If journalists are routinely compelled to violate their assurances of confidentiality in response to subpoenas, their ability to credibly provide sources with confidentiality — and, hence, acquire information that can only be acquired with such assurances — will be seriously undermined and important reporting, like that here, may never reach the public,” Berry wrote.
One of 43 monkeys bred for medical research that escaped a compound in South Carolina has been recovered unharmed, officials said Saturday.
Many of the others are still located a few yards from the property, jumping back and forth over the facility’s fence, police said in a statement.
The Rhesus macaques made a break for it Wednesday after an employee at the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee didn’t fully lock a door as she fed and checked on them, officials said.
The monkeys on Friday were exploring the outer fence of the Alpha Genesis compound and were cooing at the monkeys inside. The primates continued to interact with their companions inside the facility on Saturday, which is a positive sign, the police statement said.
Yemassee Police Department
Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard relayed that efforts to recover all the animals will persist throughout the weekend and for as long as it takes, the statement said.
Westergaard told CBS News on Thursday that a caretaker inadvertently failed to secure a door at the enclosure, allowing the monkeys to roam free.
“It’s really like follow-the-leader. You see one go and the others go,” he said. “It was a group of 50 and 7 stayed behind and 43 bolted out the door.”
Westergaard acknowledged that it would be a long process to get them back and that they didn’t want to chase the monkeys because that would spook them and make them run away.
“We’ve got them very close,” he told CBS News. “This is all like what we want to see.”
The monkeys are about the size of a cat. They are all females weighing about 7 pounds.
Alpha Genesis, federal health officials and police all said the monkeys pose no risk to public health. The facility breeds the monkeys to sell to medical and other researchers.
Alpha Genesis provides primates for research worldwide at its compound in Yemassee, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Savannah, Georgia, according to its website.
A 31-year-old American tourist was killed while on vacation in Hungary’s capital, and the suspect, a 37-year-old Irish man, has been arrested, Hungarian police said Saturday.
The victim, Mackenzie Michalski was reported missing on Nov. 5 after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest.
A Facebook group called “Find Mackenzie Michalski,” created on November 7, said Michalski, went by “Kenzie.” The group confirmed her death in a statement on Friday, thanking U.S. and Hungarian authorities for “their prompt attention, diligence, care, and consideration.”
Police launched a missing person investigation and reviewed security footage from local nightclubs where they observed Michalski with a man later identified as the suspect in several of the clubs the night of her disappearance.
Police detained the man, an Irish citizen, on the evening of Nov. 7. Investigators said that Michalski and the suspect met at a nightclub and danced before leaving for the man’s rented apartment. The man killed Michalski while they were engaged in an “intimate encounter,” police said.
The suspect, whom police identified by the initials L.T.M., later confessed to the killing but said it had been an accident. Police said that he had attempted to cover up his crime by cleaning the apartment and hiding Michalski’s body in a wardrobe before purchasing a suitcase and placing her body inside.
He then rented a car and drove to Lake Balaton, around 90 miles southwest of Budapest, where he disposed of the body in a wooden area outside the town of Szigliget.
Video released by police showed the suspect guiding authorities to the location where he had left the body. Police said the suspect had made internet searches before being apprehended on how to dispose of a body, police procedures in missing person cases, whether pigs really eat dead bodies and the presence of wild boars in the Lake Balaton area.
He also made an internet search inquiring about the competence of Budapest police.
Michalski’s parents are currently in Budapest, police told The Associated Press.
Friends posted condolences on the Facebook group of candles. Michalski was a nurse practitioner, the social media post said, who used “her humor, positivity, and limitless empathy to help heal her patients and encourage family and friends alike.”
Two years of record-breaking drought have dealt a heavy blow to what is arguably the Amazon’s most successful sustainable economy: the managed fishery for the giant pirarucu.
In Brazil´s Amazonas state, almost 6,000 riverine dwellers authorized to fish have reported a sharp drop in production and rising costs. They are demanding aid from the federal government and debating how to adapt to climate change.
Last year’s catch totaled 70% of the government-authorized quota of 100,443 fish. This year could see an even steeper decline, since many communities still haven´t been able to fish. The season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
Jorge Saenz / AP
Pirarucu managed fishing began in the Amazon 25 years ago in the Mamiraua region and has since expanded. It helped the Amazon’s largest fish escape risk of extinction and is now an important source of income for locals in 10 sustainable conservation units and eight Indigenous territories, where deforestation is close to zero.
Unlike other aquatic species of the Amazon, such as river dolphins, the pirarucu — also known as arapaima — historically have proven resilient to drought and climate change. But low water levels are making it extremely difficult for fishers to transport their catch from remote lakes to major rivers and onto cities.
It’s a mammoth task. The pirarucu, which can weigh up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds), lives in large lakes that during flood season are often connected to major rivers. Fishing typically occurs when water levels begin to recede, making it easier to trap the fish and transport them out in small boats or canoes. In several areas, however, water levels dropped so quickly that this connection was cut off before fishing could begin.
In the São Raimundo community in the Medio Jurua region, fishing is scheduled to start Saturday, a two-month delay — a common situation this season. As a result, Coletivo Pirarucu, an umbrella organization that represents 2,500 riverine and Indigenous families, has requested that the federal government extend fishing season until the end of January.
Even in large rivers navigation has become problematic, raising costs and uncertainty among fishermen. It usually takes three to four days to transport fish from Carauari municipality — a major pirarucu producer — to Manaus, the Amazon´s largest city. During the peak of the drought, the trip increased to 10 days, and the freight price has doubled.
Tough as pirarucu are, they are not immune to climate change, according to researcher Adalberto Luis Val from the National Institute for Amazonian Research. He says rising temperatures and severe droughts are exacerbating the “death trio” for all fish: warmer water, more CO2 and less oxygen.
The pirarucu has evolved to breathe air but is far from invincible.
“No fish can regulate body temperature,” Val said. “Then there’s water scarcity. As its level drops, you start to get a high amount of suspended material, leading to sludge buildup. It sticks to the gill area, blocking the processes that occur there.”
Fearing deteriorating conditions in the following decades, Coletivo Pirarucu contends that the fishermen should be entitled to compensation for losses caused by climate change. “This crisis not only challenges the resilience of communities but also highlights the urgent need for climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies,” the nonprofit stated in an open letter last week.
In an e-mail response, James Bessa, a federal official overseeing pirarucu management, said that Ibama, Brazil´s environmental agency, is working with other public bodies and local fishing associations to reduce the impact of extreme events like droughts and floods. He said there are plans to start scientific studies and closer monitoring to provide insights into ways to support riverine and Indigenous communities in sustaining their fishing activities.
Adevaldo Dias — a riverine leader who presides over the Chico Mendes Memorial, a nonprofit that assists traditional non-Indigenous communities — argues that adopting additional public policies to help the fishermen is a matter of climate justice.
“The Indigenous and riverine peoples have minimal impact on the environment,” Dias said. “We know that conserving the forest benefits both us and those outside it. And when extreme climate events occur, they are the most vulnerable.”
