Bergdahl's Conviction Overturned

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Judge vacates desertion conviction for former US soldier captured in Afghanistan

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday vacated the military conviction of Bowe Bergdahl, a former U.S. Army soldier who pleaded guilty to desertion after he left his post and was captured in Afghanistan and tortured by the Taliban.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton in Washington says that military judge Jeffrey Nance, who presided over the court-martial, failed to disclose that he had applied to the executive branch for a job as an immigration judge, creating a potential conflict of interest.

Walton noted that former President Donald Trump had strongly criticized Bergdahl during the 2016 presidential campaign. Bergdahl’s lawyers argued that Trump’s comments placed undue command influence on Nance.

Walton rejected the specific argument surrounding undue command influence, but he said a reasonable person could question the judge’s impartiality under the circumstances.

More at the link.

I can see the rationale based on conflict of interes. I also think the judge was incorrect about undue command influence. Trump, as Commander in Chief, was certainly demonstrating command influence with his comments about Bergdahl before the court-martial. Bergdahl’s plea was guilty, so, to me, the only thing at issue should be the punishment, not the conviction. Can some of the SDMB’s leagel eagles’, especially those with military background, weigh in on this view?

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Not a legal eagle nor legal beagle, but I think you are effectively correct, and usually pleading guilty tends to get one a lower or easier sentence. And it is an unholy mess, as in desertion in the heat tends to get one hung [and not in a good way] so honestly any sentence other than life in a military prison would be odd.

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I can see, though, that the guilty plea is tainted since, as you say, such a plea often leads to a lesser sentence. Of course, the announcement of this news has resurrected all the old lies about the incident.

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And, in recent news,

Veterans in Congress Press for Bowe Bergdahl to Be Retried After Sentenced Was Dismissed

They, of course, trot out the usual canard about people dying looking for Bergdahl. Yet, they don’t manage to mention how to overcome the undue command influence (Big Mouth Occupying the Oval Office) nor any of the other objections. The writing of the article is kind of lame, too. It seems to me to imply that Bergdahl ran to a civilian court because of reasons. Nope. That’s the way the system is set up. He and his lawyers followed the legal rules.