US judge weighs charges against WikiLeaks suspect

Manning, 24, is accused of the largest leak of classified documents in U.S. history, to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, and faces life in prison if convicted of aiding the enemy, the most serious of 22 charges against him.


Manning's attorney went on the offensive, asserting that military prosecutors have intentionally delayed handing over documents that, based on a past Supreme Court ruling, should be provided if necessary and relevant for Manning's defense.

"We don't hide the ball. You give everything upfront. We hold a trial based on the facts, no gamesmanship," David Coombs said in a procedural hearing that marked the beginning of three days of pre-trial motions.


The prosecution is obligated to turn over evidence to the defense team that will be introduced in court, used to prove a charge, or deemed relevant to the preparation of the defense for the accused.


Rather than restart that process, which has taken two years already, Coombs argued that the only recourse is to dismiss the charges and throw the case out entirely.


In a post on Coombs's blog, he wrote that the government had "wholly misunderstood ... longstanding fundamental and constitutionally-based rules, resulting in irreparable prejudice to ... Manning."


Lawyers for Army private Bradley Manning have demanded all 22 counts be tossed out because they say the government has consistently "stashed away" crucial information that could help their client mount his defense.
Legal analysts say a dismissal of all charges is unlikely at Wednesday's pre-trial hearing but it remained an open question whether the judge, Colonel Denise Lind, would eventually throw out some of the 22 counts as requested by defense lawyers.
Lind was also due to rule on a motion by Manning's lawyers asking for access to testimony from a federal grand jury that is delving into the WikiLeaks episode.
The defense team won a skirmish against government lawyers on Tuesday with the judge ordering prosecutors to provide her by May 18 with an array of reports by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies looking at the damage caused by the publishing of reams of classified data by WikiLeaks.
The defense lawyers hope the assessments might undermine prosecutors' claims that the exposure of classified documents via WikiLeaks caused serious damage to national security.
The judge also ordered prosecutors to scan hard drives from the unit where Manning worked in Iraq to search for specific software.
The defense lawyers believe a search of the computers will show that other soldiers were downloading unauthorized software, including chat services and games, on purportedly secure computers.
In the worst breach of US intelligence in history, Manning is accused of passing hundreds of thousands of military field reports from Iraq and Afghanistan and US diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks between November 2009 and May 2010, when he served as a low-ranking intelligence analyst in Iraq.

Prosecutors allege Manning betrayed the trust of the US government and helped Al-Qaeda by divulging classified intelligence online.
The 24-year-old soldier, who faces a possible life sentence if convicted, has yet to enter a plea in the case.