Manning denied a whistleblower defense

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:06:00 +0000

In a potential blow to his defense, Pfc. Bradley Manning has been largely denied the opportunity to present evidence about his motives for leaking documents to WikiLeaks in his upcoming trial.

Manning's defense attorney David Coombs has argued in the soldier's pretrial hearings at Fort Meade that Manning's intentions to act as a whistleblower show he had no desire to harm U.S. interests. However, military judge Col. Denise Lind on Thursday's pretrial session ruled that the defense would not be permitted to argue motive except against the specific charge that Manning knew giving information to WikiLeaks meant he was “dealing with the enemy.”

Kevin Gozstola, reporting from Fort Meade, detailed the areas where Manning's motive were deemed "immaterial" in Lind's ruling:

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Manning denied a whistleblower defense