Harassment Charges Halved In Navy Case

A military judge Friday dismissed one of the cases against a senior Navy officer who is being court-martialed on charges of sexual harassment.

Capt. Everett L. Greene, the Navy’s former top equal-opportunity officer, headed the efforts to combat sexual harassment after the 1991 Tailhook scandal. He had been accused of sexually harassing two women who worked for him.

But at Greene’s trial Friday, Col. Ken Jowers, the military judge, dismissed charges that the captain had harassed Lt. Pamela Castrucci, a Navy lawyer in the equal-opportunity office. Jowers ruled that the prosecution had failed to substantiate its charges involving Lt. Castrucci.

The trial, which will continue this week at the Washington Navy Yard, will now focus solely on the charges that Greene sexually harassed Lt. Mary E. Felix by writing her suggestive poems and cards and giving her little presents.

Greene was selected for promotion to admiral before the case, and legal experts say he is the highest ranking Navy officer to be court-martialed since World War II.

He has denied the accusations and said the two women misconstrued his concern for their well-being. Both concede that Greene never touched them.