Charles v. Shinseki, No. 09-7024

Veterans Court's decision affirming the Board of Veteran's Appeals decision denying claimant an earlier effective date for service-connected disability benefits is vacated and remanded as a later abandoned claim cannot render final an earlier-filed unadjudicated claim, and because the 1980 claim was not final, all subsequent claims, correspondence, and medical evidence are part of that claim for consideration by VA.     

Read Charles v. Shinseki, No. 09-7024

Appellate Information

Appeal from:  United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

Decided December, 2009

Judges

Before  Gajarsa, Dyk, and Moore, Circuit Judges

Opinion by Circuit Judge Moore

Counsel

For Appellant:   John F. Cameron, Jr., Montgomery, Alabama

For Appellee:  Meredyth Cohen Havasy, US Department of Justice, Washington, DC.