The Board has determined that the character of discharge from service is a bar to VA compensation benefits, but will consider if the Appellant was insane at the time of misconduct and if his psychiatric symptoms contributed to the misconduct. The case is remanded for further examination.
The deciding factor: The Board found pre-decisional errors in obtaining additional documents related to the Appellant's service records and duty to assist issues, and requires a VA examination to determine if the Appellant was insane at the time of misconduct during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Psychiatric impairment, Bipolar disorder, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 27, 2020
- Citation
- A20016118
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,836 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation A20016118.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
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- Dismissed
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