Case: 19-2431 Document: 29 Page: 1 Filed: 07/07/2020
NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
PATRICIA A. ROBERT,
Claimant-Appellant
v.
ROBERT WILKIE, SECRETARY OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS,
Respondent-Appellee
______________________
2019-2431
______________________
Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims in No. 18-4648, Judge Amanda L. Mere-
dith.
______________________
Decided: July 7, 2020
______________________
PATRICIA A. ROBERT, Killeen, TX, pro se.
STEPHANIE FLEMING, Commercial Litigation Branch,
Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Wash-
ington, DC, for respondent-appellee. Also represented by
JOSEPH H. HUNT, MARTIN F. HOCKEY, JR., ROBERT EDWARD
KIRSCHMAN, JR.; CHRISTINA LYNN GREGG, Y. KEN LEE, Of-
fice of General Counsel, United States Department of Vet-
erans Affairs, Washington, DC.
Case: 19-2431 Document: 29 Page: 2 Filed: 07/07/2020
2 ROBERT v. WILKIE
______________________
Before NEWMAN, LOURIE, and O’MALLEY, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM.
Appellant Patricia A. Robert is the surviving spouse of
Veteran Freddie L. Robert, who served in the United States
Army from August 1977 to March 1997. His service in-
cluded service in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf
War. He died on February 10, 2008, six days after he un-
derwent a cardiac catheterization examination. The issue
is whether there is service-connection to the cause of death.
Mrs. Robert applied for dependency and indemnity
compensation benefits, provided in 38 U.S.C. § 1310. After
several years of proceedings, the Board of Veterans Ap-
peals held that service connection with Mr. Robert’s cause
of death had not been established; the Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims affirmed in part and remanded in part. 1
The Veterans Court sustained the Board’s determina-
tion that Mr. Robert had not been shown to have developed
hypertension while in service, and that service-connection
on this basis was not established. Mrs. Robert asks us to
review this finding, and sets forth the factual premises.
However, our jurisdiction does not authorize review of fac-
tual questions except when there are constitutional as-
pects. 38 U.S.C. § 7292(d)(2). Since this factual question
and the probative value of various medical diagnoses are
the only questions, the appeal is not within our jurisdic-
tion.
We take note that in response to Mrs. Robert’s argu-
ment concerning the veteran’s exposure to burn pits during
his tours of duty, the Secretary requested remand to the
1 Robert v. Wilkie, No. 18-4648, 2019 WL 3771809
(Vet App. Aug. 12, 2019) (“Vet. Ct. Op.”).
Case: 19-2431 Document: 29 Page: 3 Filed: 07/07/2020
ROBERT v. WILKIE 3
Board, to assure that the VA had met its duty to assist.
The Veterans Court remanded this issue, authorizing the
Board to obtain additional evidence and argument. Vet.
Ct. Op. at *4. Although Mrs. Robert asks us to consider the
effect of burn pit exposure, that issue is not yet properly
before us.
The appeal presents only factual questions, and is not
within our appellate jurisdiction. 2
DISMISSED
No costs.
2 It appears that the entirety of this appeal is not yet
ripe for our review, given the order of remand from the Vet-
erans Court. Because we dismiss the non-remanded por-
tion of the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, however, the
result is the same.