Court-Martial Charges Against Bride Dropped

General court-martial charges have been withdrawn against Navy Lt. Kathleen Mazure, who had been accused of fraternizing with a junior enlisted man whom she later married.

The case was to have gone to trial today at the Marine Corps facility at Twentynine Palms, but on Monday the Marines’ staff judge advocate’s office announced that the charges had been withdrawn and that negotiations are under way to resolve the case, according to a Marine spokesman.

“Of course, we are pleased, but we want to see where this will go from here in terms of an ultimate resolution,” said American Civil Liberties Union attorney Mark Rosenbaum, who is representing Mazure.

The two sides will be meet today to discuss the case. Possible outcome could range from dropping the matter altogether to placing a letter of reprimand in Mazure’s file or “something more serious,” Rosenbaum said.

The case is believed to be the first in the country in which a member of the armed forces faced a court-martial for fraternizing with a member of another branch of the military-- and where no professional working relationship was at stake. The Marine Corps was prosecuting the case against the Navy officer because the fraternization occurred at a Marine facility.

Mazure, a Navy dentist, met and married Scott Price, a Marine aviation mechanic, last year. He has already been forced to leave the Marine Corps. Mazure was stationed at the Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms.

Mazure and Price met in Jacksonville, Fla., where she was serving as a dentist and he was there for training. He returned to Twentynine Palms. Several months later she followed, when the Marine Corps, which contracts with the Navy for dental services, had an opening for several women officers.