Recent developments in the case of jailed Wisconsin veteran, Keith Roberts, reveal a strong commitment by the U.S. Dept of Justice and U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) to sustaining Roberts’ criminal conviction, and fighting Roberts’ disability case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC).
Roberts’ benefits claim for his Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), was diagnosed as relating to the death of Airman Gary Holland, who was crushed to death by a C-54 airplane while stationed at a Naval air base in Naples, Italy in 1969, and an unrelated assault by the Navy Shore Patrol the same year.
As Roberts’ case was being litigated through the VA claims process in 2004-05, the VA and DoJ plotted to indict and convict Roberts, contending that Roberts and Airman Holland were not friends and that Roberts’ purported actions at the chaotic death scene 30-plus years ago were not truthfully reported by Roberts.
The move is widely seen by veterans' advocates as legal retaliation against Roberts for his tenacity in pursuing his claim, and intended to suppress other veterans’ claims.
U.S. Atty Stephen Biskupic’s office secured an indictment on April 26, 2005 under Title 18 United States Code 1341 (mail fraud), later superceded by wire fraud.
The case has potentially serious repercussions because if Roberts’ criminal conviction stands, every veteran who has a disability case pending in the VA bureaucracy is theoretically in legal jeopardy, though the political ground for attacking veterans seeking disability benefits has changed significantly in the last four years.
The engineering of the prosecution evident from the e-mails and the rushed, extraordinary prosecution itself were challenged in Roberts’ supplemental brief filed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) last July.
Roberts currently has two cases being litigated simultaneously before a panel of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (07-1546) and another panel before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC).
Two Developments
In a rare move, Roberts’ case before the CAVC (Roberts v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (05-2425) ) was moved in January from the assignment to one VA Judge to a three-judge CAVC panel, without oral arguments.
The VA Office of the General Counsel is responsible for arguing against Roberts’ petition to have his disability benefits restored.
It’s apparent that the VA feels that an adverse ruling in either the CAVC or Seventh Circuit’s forum would be at the least highly embarrassing to the DoJ and the VA.
In another development, in Roberts’ criminal case being heard before the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit’s three-judge panel, Roberts and the U.S. Atty’s office have been ordered to file a supplemental brief.
Roberts’ brief before the Seventh Circuit is due Feb. 11, and the US Atty’s reply brief is due 30 days after Feb. 11.
The Seventh Circuit's move is seen by observers as motivated by the Panel's concern that Roberts' right to counsel and legal representation be fully realized in light of the multiplicity of attorneys who have represented Roberts during his legal plight from trial to appeal.
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