Bowe Bergdahl’s trial delayed a year, causing controversy

The trial of Bowe Bergdahl, the infamous US Army POW that was returned from Afghanistan, has been delayed until 2017.  The decision was made by a military judge, Col. Jeffery Nance, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina this morning.

The new trial date is set for February, not long after the next president of the United States will assume office.  The postponement will provide the defense team more time to review and resolve any disputes over classified documents.  But according to an Associated Press report, the delay has Bergdahl’s defense worried about the possibility of Donald Trump being President during the trial.

The concern stems from multiple public condemnations Trump has made of Bergdahl along the campaign trail. The most notable phrases -that ignited a media firestorm- Trump used to describe Bergdahl were: “dirty, rotten traitor” and “should have been executed.”

Sergeant Bergdahl, who was promoted while in captivity, has been assigned to a desk duty at Fort Sam Houston in Texas.  According to law enforcement officials, threats are continually made on his life.

The exchange of five Guantanamo Bay prisoners for Bowe Bergdahl, who was not widely publicized as a traitor at the time, was harshly criticized by many outside the Obama administration.

Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, supported the Obama administration’s decision to make the prisoner exchange.

It will be up to lawyers to decide if the Army judge and/or jury’s deliberation can be free of bias allegedly created by the statements of public figures, such as Donald Trump.

According to Eric Carpenter, a former Army helicopter pilot and lawyer who now teaches at Florida International University College of Law in Miami,  “If Trump is elected, it doesn’t matter that he made the statements before becoming the commander-in-chief.”

“The key is that the panel is free from members who have been influenced by Trump’s statements,” Carpenter said.

Bergdahl also reserves the right to choose to be tried without a jury, only by a judge.

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