Posted on 11/14/2019 11:35:50 AM PST by george76
Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl contends President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. John McCain made comments that interfered with his right to a fair trial at Fort Bragg.
A military court has agreed to hear the appeal of Bowe Bergdahl, the Army soldier who left his post during a deployment in Afghanistan in 2009 to walk to another American base but got captured by the Taliban and held prisoner for five years.
At a court-martial at Fort Bragg in 2017, Bergdahl pleaded guilty to desertion to shirk hazardous duty and to misbehavior before the enemy. He was sentenced to a $10,000 forfeiture of pay, demotion from sergeant to private, and a dishonorable discharge.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces on Monday said it would examine whether there was a situation of apparent unlawful command influence in Bergdahl’s case. His lawyer asserts in a legal brief that public comments by President Donald Trump and former U.S. Sen. John McCain interfered with Bergdahl’s right to a fair trial.
Bergdahl’s case has widespread notoriety because other soldiers were injured in the effort to search for him. According to media accounts, one of the soldiers injured during the search was paralyzed by a gunshot wound to his head in 2009. That soldier died last month.
In the military justice system, people in the chain of command are not allowed to say or do anything that could affect the fairness of a defendant’s court case.
Bergdahl defense lawyer Eugene Fidell said McCain, who has since died, threatened to conduct a hearing at the Senate Armed Services Committee if Bergdahl went unpunished. McCain was the committee chairman.
And Fidell cites multiple instances of Trump — the commander-in-chief of the U.S. military — making disparaging comments about Bergdahl.
In July, a lower court — the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals — upheld Bergdahl’s sentence and conviction in a 2-1 vote. The dissenting judge said he concluded that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a significant doubt whether unlawful command influence tainted the case.
If Bergdahl loses at this level, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, he can ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. But there is no guarantee that the Supreme Court would accept it.
Staff writer Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3512.
Is he still alive? WHY?
How about we open a case against Barry Soetoro for trading 5 Jihadi combatants from Gitmo for Bird-Brain Bergdahl without Congressional authorization....then there’s that thing about pallets of unmarked cash......
This is the piece of crap whose father went on tv next to bammy and said some arabic muzzy words to his son.
Their sympathies are with *slam, not with this country.
He SHOULD have been DEALT with!!! Our Justice system is a JUST US system!! NO DEMOCRATS ARE EVER PUNISHED!
Rather surprising, isn’t it?
What does Bo want out of this, money?
He’s lucky to still be walking this earth at all.
Politics Military
The 6 U.S. Soldiers Who Died Searching for Bowe Bergdahl
Who gives the six an appeal?
Maybe the appeal will be heard and they will decide they were too lenient the 1st time around and send him to Gitmo.
“...Bergdahl’s case has widespread notoriety because other soldiers were injured in the effort to search for him.”
Precisely my thoughts on the issue.
Army court rules Trump did not unlawfully prejudice Bowe Bergdahl trial.
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3764783/posts
I would be a happy girl if Bergdahl somehow got mangled.
I’d best keep my mouth shut.
Waaa, muslim turncoat traitor.
That SOB should have been shot tied to a pole. Boy, does that case burn me.
What, he thought he'd have gotten off after pleading guilty if not for Trump tweeting something? Whatever.
Thanks for the ping.
This lowlife traitor doesn’t deserve to be wasting good air, let alone getting another appeal.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.