The Army officer who presided over Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's preliminary hearing last month has recommended that he should not face any jail time or a punitive discharge for charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the sergeant's lawyers said.
According to Bergdahl's defense team, the officer has also recommended that Bergdahl's case should proceed to a lower level court martial that limits a maximum penalty for convictions to a year in prison. A four star general will review the officer’s recommendation and determine how Bergdahl's case will be handled.
Bergdahl's civilian attorney Eugene Fidell confirmed to ABC News that Lt. Col. Mark Visger "recommended that the charges be referred to a special court-martial and that a punitive discharge and confinement would be inappropriate given all the circumstances."
Special Court Martials review cases that would equate to misdemeanors in the civilian system and limit maximum punishments to one year of jail time, a reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge. Under a general court martial Bergdahl could face a maximum life sentence for the charge of misbehavior before the enemy and five years jail time if convicted of desertion.
Visger’s recommendations have not been made public but a filing released Friday night by Bergdahl’s defense team indicated what Visger had recommended.
In the filing, Lt. Colonel Franklin D. Rosenblatt, Bergdahl’s military attorney wrote, "Given your conclusion -- with which we agree -- about whether confinement or a punitive discharge are warranted, and the factors you cited in support of that conclusion, nonjudicial punishment under Article 15, UCMJ, is the appropriate disposition."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/officer-bergdahl-hearing-recommends-jail-time-lawyers/story
