{"id":45672,"date":"2017-08-21T15:52:19","date_gmt":"2017-08-21T15:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/21\/bergdahl-chooses-to-have-trial-heard-by-judge-not-jury\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:18:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:18:58","slug":"bergdahl-chooses-to-have-trial-heard-by-judge-not-jury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2017\/08\/21\/bergdahl-chooses-to-have-trial-heard-by-judge-not-jury\/","title":{"rendered":"Bergdahl chooses to have trial heard by judge, not jury"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has decided to be tried by a judge \u2014 not a military jury \u2014 on charges that he endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bergdahl\u2019s lawyers told the court in a brief filing last week that their client chose trial by judge alone, rather than a panel of officers. He faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy at his trial scheduled for late October at Fort Bragg. The latter carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense attorneys declined to comment on the decision. But they previously questioned whether Bergdahl could get a fair trial by jury because of negative comments President Donald Trump made on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, the judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance, rejected a defense request to dismiss the case over Trump\u2019s criticism of Bergdahl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potential jurors had already received a questionnaire including questions about their commander in chief, but defense attorneys weren\u2019t allowed to ask jurors if they voted for Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force lawyer not involved in the case, said defense attorneys likely felt limited in how they could probe juror opinions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey lost their ability to ask all the questions they wanted to ask, one of those being: \u2018Did you vote for President Trump?\u2019\u201d said VanLandingham, who teaches at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. \u201cThey felt that was very important … for fleshing out whether a panel member could be fair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t