Bradley Manning found not guilty of aiding the enemy

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Bradley Manning found not guilty of aiding the enemy

The Washington Post

View Photo Gallery — Bradley Manning verdict: An Army judge finds Pfc. Bradley Manning not guilty of aiding the enemy by disclosing secret U.S. government documents. Military prosecutors had argued that the largest leak in U.S. history had assisted al-Qaeda. But the judge, Col. Denise Lind, found Manning guilty of most of the other charges.

By Julie Tate, Updated: Tuesday, July 30, 12:29 PM E-mail the writer

An Army judge on Tuesday acquitted Pfc. Bradley Manning of aiding the enemy by disclosing a trove of secret U.S. government documents, a striking rebuke to military prosecutors who argued that the largest leak in U.S. history had assisted al-Qaeda.
The judge, Col. Denise Lind, found Manning guilty of most of the more than 20 crimes he was charged with. She also acquitted him of one count of the espionage act that stemmed from his leak of a video that depicted a fatal U.S. military airstrike in Farah, Afghanistan.

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The verdict for each of the charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning.

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Bradley Manning arrived at court to hear the verdict in his military espionage and aiding the enemy trial at Fort Meade Tuesday. Manning was found not guilty of aiding the enemy.

The eight-week trial offered a gripping account of Manning’s transformation from a shy soldier who deployed to Baghdad as an intelligence analyst in 2009 to a mole for the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, which disclosed more than 700,000 documents Manning gathered.
Had Manning been convicted of aiding the enemy, Manning would have faced a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. Civil libertarians saw the prospect of a conviction on that charge, which has not been used since the Civil War, as a dangerous precedent that could have would have sent an unmistakable message to would-be government whistle-blowers.
“The heart of this matter is the level of culpability,” said retired Air Force Col. Morris Davis, a former chief prosecutor at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He noted that Manning has already pled guilty to some charges and admitted leaking secret documents that he felt exposed wartime misdeeds. “Beyond that is government overreach.”
If found guilty of all charges, including aiding the enemy, Manning would face a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The planned announcement of the verdict follows an eight-week trial at Fort Meade in Maryland, where military prosecutors argued that Manning, 25, betrayed his oath and his country, and assisted al-Qaeda because the terrorist group was able to access secret material once WikiLeaks posted it.

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Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy, found guilty of espionage

By Carlo Muñoz - 07/30/13 05:09 PM ET

Former Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning was acquitted on Tuesday of providing aid to the enemy, but found guilty of five espionage accounts.
The decision means Manning could spend the rest of his life behind bars; the maximum sentence for the charges would be 136 years, Army officials with the Military District of Washington told The Hill.

But Army Judge Col. Denise Lind found the 25-year-old Army private not guilty of the most serious charge he faced, of aiding the enemy. That charged carried a life sentence.
Lind also found Manning guilty of five charges of theft during Tuesday's military hearing at Ft. Meade, Md. He had already pleaded guilty to 10 other offenses.
Manning's legal defense team will find out whether their client will be locked up for his entire natural life during a sentencing hearing set for Wednesday morning at Ft. Meade, according to Army officials.
Prior to Tuesday's ruling, Lind denied a request by Manning's defense team to have the aiding the enemy charge dropped.
At the time, Lind said Manning's lawyers had not presented enough evidence to merit dismissing the charge.
Lawmakers praised Lind's ruling, saying “justice has been served” with Manning's conviction on espionage and federal theft charges.
"Manning harmed our national security, violated the public's trust, and now stands convicted of multiple serious crimes,” said Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and ranking member Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) in a joint statement Tuesday.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C) told The Hill on Tuesday that he respected Lind's decision, in light of the harmful effect the leaks had on U.S. national security
"It’s one of the more serious things I’ve seen a military member do since I’ve been around for 30 years," Graham said. "People who say he’s a hero are misguided in terms of who a hero might be."
Rogers and Ruppersberger said their committee plans to continue cooperation to improve safeguards on highly-senstive and classified information from becoming public.

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