A US Air Force general's sister-in-law testified at his court martial that he groped and kissed her after a family barbecue at her home

The sister-in-law of a US Air Force general who has accused him of sexual assault took the stand at his military trial, testifying that the two-star general groped and kissed her after a family barbecue at her New Mexico home four years ago.

"I was a little shocked at that moment … He had never done anything like this before," the plaintiff, who was not publicly identified, said of her brother-in-law, Maj. Gen. William Cooley, as she testified in military court in Ohio earlier this week, according to the Air Force Times.

"I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. I thought, 'This is how rapes happen,'" Cooley's sister-in-law testified. about the alleged 2018 incident inside of the woman's car, the Air Force Times reported.

Cooley, a former Air Force Research Laboratory commander, has pleaded not guilty to abusive sexual contact in the case. His defense attorneys have argued that a kiss between the two was consensual, according to the news outlet.

Cooley's trial is the first-ever military trial of an Air Force general. He faces up to 21 years behind bars. Closing arguments in the case were set for Friday before a judge renders a verdict in the case.