Appeals Court Restores Bergdahl's Military Conviction

A federal appeals court on Tuesday restored the military conviction of former U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, ruling that a lower federal judge lacked the authority to overturn the court-martial judgment. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit effectively ends Bergdahl's long-running legal challenge to his 2017 conviction. The three-judge panel ordered the dismissal of Bergdahl's claims in federal district court, vacating a 2023 order by Senior U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton that had wiped out the conviction. In its opinion, the appeals court stated that "the authority to vacate a court-martial judgment belongs to tribunals exercising direct appellate review, not district courts conducting collateral review." The case was remanded back to Walton with instructions to dismiss it for lack of jurisdiction. Bergdahl's legal battle stems from his 2009 disappearance from his post in Afghanistan's Paktika province. He was subsequently captured by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network and held for nearly five years.