Latest: Military judge delays Bowe Bergdahl trial until spring of 2017

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina -- A military judge is delaying the trial of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

Army Col. Jeffery Nance decided to push the trial back to May 2017 during a pretrial hearing Monday at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The trial had been scheduled for February.

Prosecutors filed a motion in October requesting a trial delay. They cited the pace at which they're able to get approval to give the defense classified evidence as a main reason for the delay.

The judge also planned to hear testimony Monday about soldiers the prosecution says were injured while looking for Bergdahl. Nance is considering a motion on whether to allow such evidence at trial.

Bergdahl, who's from Hailey, Idaho, walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held captive by the Taliban and its allies for five years. He was freed in 2014 and faces up to life in prison if convicted of both charges.