{"id":47119,"date":"2017-11-04T18:22:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-04T18:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/11\/04\/in-making-his-decision-bergdahl-judge-weighed-complex-leniency-factors\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:31:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:31:19","slug":"in-making-his-decision-bergdahl-judge-weighed-complex-leniency-factors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2017\/11\/04\/in-making-his-decision-bergdahl-judge-weighed-complex-leniency-factors\/","title":{"rendered":"In making his decision, Bergdahl judge weighed complex leniency factors"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=e33426e9-5ca5-4a77-8d99-353172789bae\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-e33426e9-5ca5-4a77-8d99-353172789bae.png\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FORT BRAGG, N.C. \u2014 Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl\u2019s brutal five years of captivity by Taliban allies carried significant weight in an Army judge\u2019s decision to spare him prison time for leaving his post in Afghanistan in 2009, legal experts said. Criticism of Bergdahl by President Donald Trump also appeared to push the judge toward leniency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Army Col. Jeffery Nance didn\u2019t explain how he formulated the sentence that also included a dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank and a fine. But the judge had to consider a complex array of arguments for and against leniency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors asked for a 14-year prison sentence, citing several service members\u2019 serious wounds while searching for Bergdahl. The defense sought to mitigate the punishment with evidence of Bergdahl\u2019s captivity, mental illnesses, contrition and Trump\u2019s harsh criticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s really rare for there to be this much mitigation evidence,\u201d said Eric Carpenter, a former Army lawyer who teaches law at Florida International University. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of hard to distinguish which is the one that Nance gave the most weight to. But I think the Taliban conditions were pretty onerous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>HOW DID BERGDAHL\u2019S CAPTIVITY FACTOR IN?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former Air Force lawyer Rachel VanLandingham noted that Bergdahl\u2019s captivity was twice cited by officers in early investigations as a reason not to send him to prison. The officer who oversaw Bergdahl\u2019s 2015 Article 32 hearing, which serves a similar purpose to a civilian grand jury process, wrote imprisonment wasn\u2019t necessary largely due to \u201catrocities\u201d against Bergdahl, though he noted he didn\u2019t have evidence of casualties on search missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"apester-media\" data-media-id=\"59ee081217444e0001d9b73a\" height=\"492\"><\/div><script async src=\"\/\/static.apester.com\/js\/sdk\/v2.0\/apester-javascript-sdk.min.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe high level folks who have looked at this said: \u2018We just don\u2019t think confinement is appropriate because of the amount of torture he suffered,\u2019\u201d said VanLandingham, who teaches at Southwestern Law School in California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During sentencing, Bergdahl described beatings and torture by his captors with copper wire and unending bouts of illness brought on by squalid conditions. After several escape attempts, he was placed in a cage for four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg Rinckey, a former Army lawyer now in private practice, said he believes the \u201cbrutal conditions\u201d and their duration were the most significant of the mitigating factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>WHAT EFFECTS DID TRUMP\u2019S COMMENTS HAVE?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In campaign speeches, Trump frequently criticized Bergdahl, calling him a \u201cdirty, rotten traitor.\u201d Nance rejected defense motions that charges should be dismissed or punishment limited because Trump was exerting unlawful command influence. But Nance indicated he would consider Trump\u2019s comments a factor promoting leniency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTrump helped take that confinement off the table,\u201d VanLandingham said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, Trump\u2019s condemnation of the lack of prison time on Twitter on Friday could give the defense lawyers a strong hand to get the sentence reduced further by an appeals court, the legal experts say. A dishonorable discharge triggers an automatic appeal to a higher military court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>HOW IMPORTANT WERE BERGDAHL\u2019S MENTAL HEALTH AND REMORSE?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nance also likely factored in Bergdahl\u2019s willingness to take responsibility by pleading guilty, his emotional apology in court, and his mental health issues, the experts said. Bergdahl choked up Monday as he apologized to the wounded searchers in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bergdahl and his lawyers offered evidence of two mental disorders as mitigating factors. A psychiatrist testified Bergdahl was influenced by a schizophrenia-like condition called schizotypal personality disorder that made it hard to understand consequences of his actions, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder after a difficult childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bergdahl\u2019s escape attempts and valuable information he provided intelligence officers also helped, VanLandingham said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou have a mentally ill individual who served five years honorably in captivity. He genuinely showed remorse. And I think those things came across loud and clear,\u201d VanLandingham said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2017\/11\/03\/bergdahl-sentence-dishonorable-discharge-no-prison-time\/\">Bergdahl sentence: Dishonorable discharge, no prison time<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>DID THOSE FACTORS OUTWEIGH WOUNDS TO BERGDAHL SEARCHERS?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nance had to weigh the leniency factors against prosecution evidence of several service members wounded on search missions. Before sentencing, Nance ruled those troops wouldn\u2019t have wound up in separate firefights if they weren\u2019t looking for Bergdahl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors cited a soldier whose hand was shattered by a rocket-propelled grenade and another who suffered a head wound that put him in a wheelchair and rendered him unable to speak. A Navy SEAL suffered a career-ending leg wound on another search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carpenter described the wounds as \u201cvery compelling\u201d evidence against Bergdahl, but he said Nance likely recognized the searches involved events beyond Bergdahl\u2019s control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecause there were so many other factors between Bergdahl\u2019s actions and those injuries, the weight of the evidence went down,\u201d Carpenter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How the judge in the Bowe Bergdahl case might have come to the decision not to give Bergdahl prison 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