![]() "Two ancient cases are all that are available of superior court guidance as to the meaning of these words," Nance wrote. In fact, the judge wrote that only a few relevant cases - one from the Korean War, the other from Vietnam, apply as precedents to the charge against Bergdahl. Legal databases and media accounts turn up only a few misbehavior cases since 2001, when fighting began in Afghanistan. ![]() The misbehavior charge has rarely been used in recent decades, though there were hundreds of cases during World War II. "Unlike the recalcitrant Wal-Mart employee, a service member really can earn himself a federal criminal conviction for repeatedly being late to work," the judge wrote. Military members must hold to a high standard of discipline to maintain order on the battlefield, and serving as a soldier isn't like most other jobs, he reasoned in a separate ruling this week. But the judge sided with prosecutors who argued that Bergdahl's decision to leave his post was criminal enough to trigger the more serious charge. ![]() Defense attorneys wanted the misbehavior charge thrown out, arguing that the underlying actions weren't independently criminal and that the sentence could be overly harsh. Bergdahl told a general during a preliminary investigation that he left his post intending to cause alarm and draw attention to what he saw as problems with his unit. First Class Mark Allen was shot in the head, suffering a traumatic brain injury that left him in a wheel chair and unable to communicate. On a separate search mission that month, U.S. He said he nearly bled to death and has endured 18 surgeries since then. The former Navy Seal, Retired Senior Chief Petty Officer James Hatch, testified that he suffered a career-ending leg wound when he was sprayed with an AK-47 while chasing enemy fighters on a July 2009 search mission. But the judge ruled that neither service member would have been wounded "doing what they were doing but for the actions of the accused, assuming he is found guilty." Scores of military members searched for Bergdahl, who was captured within hours and would be held captive by the Taliban and its allies for five years. Bergdahl's attorneys have argued that he can't be held responsible for a long chain of events that included many decisions by others on how to conduct the searches after he left his remote outpost in June 2009. Bergdahl also is charged with desertion, punishable by up to five years. The charge, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, alleges that Bergdahl endangered fellow service members by walking off his remote post and triggering search missions across Afghanistan. Jeffery Nance, ruled that the service members wouldn't have wound up in the firefights that left them wounded if they hadn't been searching for Bergdahl, so their injuries would be relevant to his sentencing if he's convicted of misbehavior before the enemy at trial in October. Bowe Bergdahl can be used at the sentencing phase of his upcoming trial, a judge ruled Friday, giving prosecutors significant leverage to pursue stiff punishment against the soldier. Serious wounds to a soldier and a Navy Seal who searched for Army Sgt.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |