Mulder v. McDonald

Mulder served in the Army for three separate periods between 1982 and 1994, accumulating about two years of honorable service. In 1998, the VA assigned Mulder a 50% disability rating for two service-connected conditions. Mulder was arrested and charged with felonies. Because Mulder was unable to post bail on July 11, 2005, he remained in custody pending trial. On May 19, 2006, Mulder pleaded no contest and a conviction was entered. On June 16, 2006, the court ordered that Mulder serve an initial term of confinement of eight years, six months, followed by six years of supervised release, with credit for the 384 days he had been in custody, specifying May 19, 2006, as the “Date(s) Convicted.” The VA must reduce benefits payments if the recipient is incarcerated for a period in excess of 60 days for conviction of a felony, 38 U.S.C. 5313(a)(1), beginning on the sixty-first day of such incarceration. In July 2007, the VA notified Mulder that his felony conviction and resulting incarceration required it to reduce his disability compensation, effective July 19, 2006. The Board, the Veterans Court, and the Federal Circuit agreed with the VA’s use of the date of the plea and conviction in calculating the reduction. View "Mulder v. McDonald" on Justia Law