And much exculpatory evidence was never introduced at trial in defense of Roberts.
Roberts' appeal brief is due June 29 before the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
The government brief is due July 30. Roberts' reply brief is due August 13.
Significance for Vets
Beyond Roberts’ liberty, the Roberts case bears heavily on 100,000s of vets as the Administration looks to cut costs by axing treatment and benefits for returning PTSD-wounded veterans, entitlements that are anathema to Bush rightwing ideologues.
No other VA case that Roberts’ attorneys or his colleagues have even heard of involves a veteran in the middle of the VA adjudication processes, indicted and then convicted of wire fraud. [And all benefits must be deposited through electronic funds.]
Every veteran who files for PTSD (especially Vietnam-era vets) is now at criminal risk if they cannot prove that their "stressors" exist to the evolving and high standard of the VA in these matters.
“The process of gathering evidence to prove PTSD disability is extremely time-consuming,” said Sen Barrack Obama (D-IL) in 2005. “It requires the compilation of medical records, military service records, and testimonies from other veterans who can attest to a person’s combat exposure. I cannot fathom why the VA would require veterans to go through this emotionally painful process a second time.”
Roberts is a warning to every vet. He was swiftboated by his own government and they are making this veteran look like a scheming, crooked con man.
The cases to be adjudicated are:
- U.S. v. Roberts, E.D. of Wisconsin federal court, docket 05-CR-118. U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, 07-1546, 03/12/07.\;
- U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) docket number 05-2425;
- VA Board of Veterans Appeals docket number 03-04 265.
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