RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The Latest on the legal case against Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl (all times local):
1:15 p.m.
Evidence of injuries to military members who searched for Bowe Bergdahl will be allowed at the sentencing phase if the Army sergeant is convicted of endangering his comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009.
The judge, Army Col. Jeffery Nance, ruled Friday that prosecutors can use evidence from two search missions that resulted in serious wounds to a soldier and a Navy Seal.
Nance previously ruled that evidence of injuries can’t be used at the guilt-or-innocence phase because it could cause jurors to react emotionally rather than rationally. But the sentencing phase has a different standard for allowing evidence of aggravating circumstances.
Bergdahl faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy at his trial scheduled for October. The latter charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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10:40 a.m.
The military judge overseeing Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s case says prosecutors can try the soldier on a rare charge alleging he endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009.
The judge, Col. Jeffery Nance, rejected a defense motion on Thursday to dismiss the charge of misbehavior before the enemy, which carries up to a life sentence.
Bergdahl also faces a desertion charge, punishable by up to 5 years, at trial in October.
Defense lawyers said prosecutors used faulty logic to charge Bergdahl with a crime more serious than his underlying actions.
The judge acknowledged that case law is “scarce” because the misbehavior charge is so rarely used, but he said a soldier who leaves his post alone and without authorization should be aware he could face punishment.
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