Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s captivity might have played a role in his sentencing.

Judge weighed years of captivity, mental state, legal experts say

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s five years of captivity by Taliban allies carried significant weight in an Army judge’s 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.

Army Col. Jeffery Nance didn’t 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.

Prosecutors asked for a 14-year prison sentence, citing several service members’ serious wounds while searching for Bergdahl. The defense sought to mitigate the punishment with evidence of Bergdahl’s captivity, mental illnesses, contrition and Trump’s harsh criticism.

“It’s really rare for there to be this much mitigation evidence,” said Eric Carpenter, a former Army lawyer who teaches law at Florida International University.

Former Air Force lawyer Rachel VanLandingham noted that Bergdahl’s captivity was twice cited by officers in early investigations as a reason not to send him to prison. The officer who oversaw Bergdahl’s 2015 Article 32 hearing, which serves a similar purpose to a civilian grand jury process, wrote imprisonment wasn’t necessary largely due to “atrocities” against Bergdahl, though he noted he didn’t have evidence of casualties on search missions.

“The high level folks who have looked at this said: ‘We just don’t think confinement is appropriate because of the amount of torture he suffered,’” said VanLandingham, who teaches at Southwestern Law School in California.

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.

Greg Rinckey, a former Army lawyer now in private practice, said he believes the “brutal conditions” and their duration were the most significant of the mitigating factors.

In campaign speeches, Trump frequently criticized Bergdahl, calling him a “dirty, rotten traitor.” 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’s comments a factor promoting leniency.

Now, Trump’s 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.

Nance also likely factored in Bergdahl’s 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.

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.

Gerry Broome The Associated Press Bowe Bergdahl, left, leaves the Fort Bragg, N.C., courtroom facility after sentencing Friday that spared him prison time but included a dishonorable discharge for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.