WASHINGTON - The Baltimore Sun reports that a military judge ruled that gay porn found on a Navy doctor's computer can be used as evidence in his trial at which he is charged with secretly recording Naval Academy midshipmen having sex in his home in Annapolis.
Commander Kevin Ronan has been charged with seven counts of conduct unbecoming an officer, three counts of illegal wiretapping, and one count of obstruction of justice. If he is cleared of all charges, the question of his homosexuality will likely be investigated and he may still be thrown out of the military. Steve Ralls from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which aids gays in the armed services, said that an inquiry into an enlisted man's sexual orientation often winds up with the man being booted from the military.
Ronan's defense attorneys wanted to keep the porn out of the trial by suggesting prosecutors had no way of knowing who actually downloaded the images and voicing fears that the notion Ronan was gay could turn the jury against him, while prosecution attorneys argue that the porn can be used as evidence of a motive for the alleged taping.
Ronan's civilian attorney, William Ferris, said in court, "The effect of this is going to be to suggest, ‘This is a bad person, he's got homosexual tendencies, and we certainly don't want him in the Navy.... There is a strong prejudice against homosexuals in the military."
On the stand, Ronan denied knowledge of the porn and said that a dozen midshipmen crashed at his place when they were free, suggesting any of them could have downloaded the adult material.
The judge, Marine Col. Steven Day, decided that the reasons for allowing the porn as evidence carried more heft than the defense's fear of jury prejudice, which he thought he would be able to stem. The Sun reports that Day said the porn could show "possible need on his part" to view "young, athletic males" involved in sex, and also because the images were found in a file labeled "lectures" and the word appeard to be written by Ronan.
A forensic computer analyst from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service testified that there were hundreds of gay porn videos and thousands of images on Ronan's computer, and also that he had paid to be a member of a Brent Everett Yahoo! group.
Ronan claimed his identity had been stolen, and hinted that a former midshipman was trying to blackmail him.
All models were at least 18 years old at the time of their performance. 18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement.
