NAHA, Japan, July 8 (UPI) -- A Japanese court Thursday dismissed an attempted rape charge against a U.S. Marine but gave him a suspended one-year term for attempted molestation.
The district court in Naha in the Okinawa Prefecture also accused Maj. Michael Brown, 41, of destruction of property, Kyodo News reported. Prosecutors had sought a three-year prison term.
In his ruling, the judge said the victim's testimony was incoherent and unnatural and some of her claims were exaggerated. Brown had pleaded not guilty.
Brown's trial took an unusual turn after the woman testified she wanted the charges dropped, saying she did not want to press them in the first place, Kyodo said.
Brown was accused of trying to molest the woman on Nov 2, 2002, and throwing her cell phone into a river when she tried to call the police.
The U.S. military had initially refused to hand over Brown to Japanese authorities despite a 1995 agreement to give "sympathetic consideration" to surrender personnel accused of serious crimes in Japan.
