Crediford: Service department findings (i.e., willful misconduct, LOD determinations) are binding on VA
/Crediford v. Shulkin, 877 F.3d 1040 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 18, 2017)
HELD: The Board cannot “make its own findings on of the facts of line of duty and willful misconduct,” particularly when there are relevant service records before it.
SUMMARY: Marvin Crediford served in the U.S. Coast Guard from August 1983 to August 1985 and January 1990 to March 1991. In January 1985, he was in a car accident after he had been drinking. Several hours after he had stopped drinking, his blood alcohol level was measured as .12 percent. He was charged with driving under the influence.
He reported the incident to the Coast Guard, and in April 1985, the local commanding officer issued a report, stating that fatigue and alcohol were responsible for the accident, and that his injuries “were not the result of his own misconduct and were incurred in the line of duty.”
In December 1985, several months after he left the Coast Guard, a memorandum was issued by the Commander of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District. This memorandum referred to a November 1985 “finding” by the Commandant of the Coast Guard that his injuries were “not incurred in the line of duty and were due to his own misconduct.”
In 2004, Mr. Crediford filed a claim for disability compensation. The RO denied the claim because his injuries were the result of willful misconduct and not incurred in the line of duty. The RO stated that the veteran’s service records did not contain a line-of-duty determination. The RO noted the December 1985 memorandum – but not the April 1985 decision.
Mr. Crediford appealed and submitted the April 1985 decision. At a Board hearing, he asserted that the December 1985 memorandum was issued “post-discharge, without notice that an LOD investigation was ongoing and was not disclosed.” The Board found the preponderance of the evidence against the claim, noting that his blood alcohol content raised “a presumption” of intoxication that “was not rebutted in this case.”
The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims affirmed the Board’s decision, finding that the Board provided adequate reasons for bases for its finding that his Mr. Crediford’s injury was the result of willful misconduct. Neither the Board nor the Court resolved the discrepancy between the April and November 1985 findings regarding willful misconduct.
On appeal to the Federal Circuit, Mr. Crediford argued that the April 1985 LOD decision should prevail because the December 1985 memorandum was not a line-of-duty determination and the November 1985 document referenced in the memorandum was not in the record. Thus, the April 1985 decision was the only LOD determinationof record that was binding on VA. Mr. Crediford also argued that the Board and the Veterans Court “created a new per se standard or presumption of willful misconduct based solely on blood alcohol level, contrary to VA regulation.”
The Federal Circuit noted that in-service injuries are presumed to be incurred in the line of duty unless they are caused by the veteran’s willful misconduct or substance abuse. Under VA regulations, drinking alcohol, in and of itself, is not willful misconduct unless “a service member consumes alcohol to enjoy its intoxicating effects, and the intoxication ‘proximately and immediately’ results in the injury.” *7 (citing 38 C.F.R. § 3.301(c)(2)). The Court also noted that service department findings – including findings regarding willful misconduct and line of duty – are binding on VA. *7-8 (citing 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1(m) and (n)). The Court framed the issue on appeal as “whether the Board had authority to ignore the Service Department’s findings.”
The Court found that neither the Board nor the Court resolved the conflict between the April 1985 decision and the November 1985 document, and held that “the Board erred in simply making its own findings on the question of willful misconduct when there were service department findings before it.” The Court added that the Coast Guard’s “determinations, made in 1985 when the accident occurred, must be addressed” and that “[i]t was error for the Board to make its own findings of the facts of line of duty and willful misconduct.” The Court remanded for further proceedings to address the question of application of 38 C.F.R. § 3.1(m)-(n).
