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Judge lacked power to overturn ex-soldier Bowe Bergdahl’s military conviction, appeals court rules
The panel said only military tribunals can vacate court-martial judgments, and ordered Bergdahl’s district court case dismissed after his 2021 lawsuit.
On Tuesday, the Columbia Circuit ruled that a federal judge lacked authority to vacate Bowe Bergdahl's military conviction for desertion, ordering the dismissal of Bergdahl's claims in District.
In June 2009, Bergdahl deserted his post in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, while a 23-year-old soldier, after which Taliban-affiliated Haqqani forces abducted him and held him captive for five years.
District Judge Reggie Walton had previously vacated the conviction, citing a conflict of interest involving military judge Jeffrey Nance, but the Court concluded that only military tribunals hold authority to vacate a court-martial judgment.
The three-judge panel, including Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas, and Circuit Judges Robert Wilkins, ordered the dismissal as Bergdahl had sued in 2021, arguing his Fifth Amendment due-process rights were violated.
Prosecutors at the court-martial sought 14 years in prison after Bergdahl pleaded guilty in 2017 to desertion; Eugene Fidell, one of Bergdahl's lawyers, did not immediately respond to comment on Wednesday.