Medication Change Defense for Army Lieutenant Colonel Facing Shoplifting Court-Martial
An Army Lieutenant Colonel who was previously diagnosed with kleptomania will face court-martial at Fort Benning for stealing $37 worth of challenge coins from the post exchange. Despite an investigating officer’s recommendation that the matter be resolved through an administrative discharge, the convening authority decided to take the matter to court-martial based on a prior shoplifting conviction in a post exchange in Kuwait. A staff psychiatrist testified at the Article 32 hearing that the officer was originally prescribed a daily dose of 150 mg of Zoloft, but that dosage was later reduced to 100 mg by a different doctor without explanation. The change “may have contributed” to the latest shoplifting incident according the psychiatrist. The story is here.
