As reported by The Bradley Manning Support Network, military Judge Col. Denise Lind has altered some of the crucial charges against PFC Bradley Manning ahead of her verdict, which is expected tomorrow around 1pm EST.
For three of the five theft charges against Manning, the government is now alleging that he stole “portions of” databases. Up until last week, Manning had been charged with stealing entire databases. Also, the government is alleging that Manning stole the information within the records, though it had charged him with merely stealing the databases.
Now that closing arguments have been completed, Manning’s defense has no way to defend him against these new allegations, leading them to file a motion for a mistrial on the theft charges.
“Because all of these critical ‘clarifications’ are coming after eight weeks of testimony, and because these offenses carry with them 50 years of potential imprisonment, and because the Defense was actually misled by the Charge Sheet, the Defense requests that this Court declare a mistrial as to the section 641 offenses,” stated defense attorney David Coombs.
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This is only the most recent and egregious of the suspicious activity that has been surrounding the Manning trial. According to journalist Kevin Gosztola, who has been covering the trial directly from Ft. Meade, Maryland for Firedoglake.com, military presence was used in the courtroom on July 25 to discourage the assigned press, with armed guards leaning over the shoulders of writers working on their laptops and others on the outside tracking messages that were sent via Twitter.
Coombs is hoping to use the military rule to bolster his chances of having a mistrial. As per the BMSN, under Rule for Courts Martial 915, a military judge may declare a mistrial when “manifestly necessary in the interest of justice because of circumstances arising during the proceedings which cast substantial doubt upon the fairness of the proceedings.”
We would say that there are VERY serious doubts about the fairness of what’s going on in that Ft. Meade courtroom.
2eo
Absolute and complete vindication for what I and Fawkes have being saying ALL along. This is a show trial, and this proves it 100%.
The lies against this man grow by the day, he has being tortured, isolated and forced to suffer by a people supposed to love freedom.
It’s 2013 and last time I checked America wasn’t an islamic theocracy or communist dictatorship. Pathetic.
Every person who still thinks he is a traitor in light of these changes and moving of goalposts is an halfwit, without exception, there isn’t room for interpretation, this is exactly the reality.
alterego1980
Taking tons of classified Gov’t documents and giving them away to anyone is in my opinion a horrible and traitorous offense. If he is guilty of the offenses as charged, he should go to prison for many years. However, I seek justice in all things and though i’m no expert in military trials, it does not seem fair to change the charges as the trial is ending. If they charged him with stealing the database, and he didn’t, maybe he gets off on a technicality, maybe not, but next time the prosecutor will do a better job at charging him. Of course I don’t see the judge delaring a mistrial after she just willingly changed the charges…
onyxsky
@2eo: exactly
onyxsky
@alterego1980: you can’t be serious
hyhybt
Seems like this would make easy grounds for an appeal.
Fawkes
@hyhybt: Normally you’d be right, but since this country has pretty much thrown out the rule of law and the right to a fair trial, I really, really don’t expect any sort of appeal would be heard.
2eo
We’ve had a pool at work, I have put £10 on life without the chance of parole, we also have execution, life with parole and 50 years.
This ridiculous show trial showcases American contempt for people who love their nation and want to defend it’s ideals, want a gun and die pointlessly they love you. Fight for ideals they hate you.
curan
Obama originally promised to protect whistleblowers in his campaign platform:
Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.
This text was recently removed from his web archive:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130726/01200123954/obama-promise-to-protect-whistleblowers-just-disappeared-changegov.shtml
BJ McFrisky
Reminds me of the government adding an 11th-hour charge of manslaughter to George Zimmerman’s case. Reeks of desperation.