Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was found not guilty of ‘aiding the enemy’ today, but was found guilty of most of the other 20 offenses for which he was charged. The sentencing phase will begin tomorrow.
From FOX News:
The U.S. Army soldier charged with providing troves of government documents to the whistleblowing website Wikileaks was found not guilty Tuesday of aiding the enemy, the top charge in his 21-count indictment, which could have carried a life sentence.
Prosecutors had to prove Army Pfc. Bradley Manning had “a general evil intent” and knew the classified material would be seen by the terrorist group Al Qaeda. Legal experts said an aiding-the- enemy conviction could set a precedent because Manning did not directly give the classified material to Al Qaeda.
Manning was convicted of five espionage counts, five theft charges, a computer fraud charge and other military infractions. His sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
Independent journalist Alexa O’Brien (disclosure – she is a Manning supporter), who has long covered the Manning case and maintains an archives of all of the case transcripts, provides the most complete breakdown of the list of counts/charges and those to which Manning had already pled guilty. I encourage you to review her complete post if you want to understand all the charges.
O’Brien was there on site in MD today for the reading of the verdict and tweeted it out today, one charge at a time; I compiled them here:
Aiding the Enemy— NOT GUILTY
Spec 1, Charge II Wanton Pub. Guilty
Spec II, Charge II Guilty to his LIO plea for 793(e) Collateral Murder
Spec 3, Charge II CIA Red Cell Memo 793(e) GUILTY (10 years MAX)
Spec 4, Charge II Iraq War Logs Database 641 GUILTY (10 years MAX)
Spec 5, Charge II Iraq War Logs Espionage 793(e) GUILTY (10 years)
Spec 6, Charge II Afghan War Diray Database 641 GUILTY (10 years)
Spec 7, Charge II Afghan War Diary Espionage 793(e) GUILTY (10 Years MAX)
Spec 8, Charge II GTMO Files Database 641 GUILTY (10 Years MAX)
Spec 9, Charge II GTMO File 793(e) Espionage GUILTY (10 Years MAX)
Spec 10, Charge II Farah Records 793(e) GUILTY (10 Years Max)
Spec 11, Charge II Garani Video 793(e) NOT GUILTY
Spec 12, Charge II Cablegate database 641 GUILTY (10 Years MAX)
Spec 13, Charge II Cablegate CFAA Exceed Auth Access GUILTY (10 Years)
Spec 14, Charge II Reykjavik 13 GUILTY to his LIO (‘knowingly accessing’) (2 years MAX)
Spec 15, Charge II USACIC Memo on WikiLeaks 793(e) GUILTY (10 tears MAX)
Spec 16, Charge II Microsoft Exchange GAL 641 GUILTY (10 Years MAX)
Charge III (Article 92) Spec 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 GUILTY (2 years MAX each, TOTAL MAX 10 years)
Spec 1, Charge II Wanton Publication (Which #Manning was found guilty of is 2 years MAX– see below)
Spec 2, Charge II Guilty to his LIO plea for 793(e) Collateral Murder <– See below this is 2 years MAX)
Manning faces 136 year MAX punishment on the crimes he was found GUILTY– sentencing begins tomorrow.
O’Brien also has this breakdown below of the counts/charges posted at her blog.
Military prosecutors charged Private First Class Bradley Manning on March 1, 2011 with violating three Articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (U.C.M.J):
- Charge I: ‘Aiding the Enemy’ under Article 104
- Charge II: 16 separate offenses under General Article 134
- Charge III: 5 offenses of Article 92 ‘Failure to obey order or regulation’
The 16 separate offenses under Charge II General Article 134 include:
- 1 specification for ‘Wanton Publication of Intelligence on the Internet’
- 8 specification of the Espionage Act– 18 U.S.C. 793(e)
- 2 specification of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act– 18 U.S.C. 1030(a)(1)
- 5 specification of ‘Stealing U.S. Government Property’– 18 U.S.C. 641
The five separate offenses of Charge III Article 92 or a ‘failure to obey order or regulation’ include:
- attempting to bypass a network of information security system mechanism
- adding unauthorized software to a Secret Internet Protocol Router Network on two separate occasions
- using an information system in a manner other than its intended purpose
- wrongfully storing classified information
Lastly, she tweeted out this helpful graphic that displays the charges, common reference for those charges, federal violation, how Manning pled, max punishment, and ruling on each in one simple chart.
https://twitter.com/carwinb/status/362268687522209792
I’ll have more once I’ve had a chance to fully digest the verdict. As readers know, I am covering for the blog while Prof’s away, so I will try to write a more thoughtful post on this as soon as I have some more time.
For previous coverage of the Bradley Manning trial at Legal Insurrection, click here.
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Comments
If the sentence is consecutive, all will be good…
Sad verdict. Reminds me of Kimba Wood. The woman judge at Michael Milken’s trial. Who wanted to become a sitting justice. But after Clinton nominated her, her nomination ran into trouble. Because she hired an illegal alien to care for her son.
Who knows what’s fair, anymore.
We’ve got scum “adjudicators” in our military. Which shouldn’t come as news. But it is indeed sad. Knowing what the bastards want to keep secret shouldn’t need fifty more years before anything surfaces.
Sometimes, I think we’re all made to feel like Abraham Lincoln. When he knew McClellan was incompetent. But was “loved” by congress critters who liked to fund America’s capacity to hold parades.
The truth has an odd way of showing up late, always.
a fair sentence would be 6 or 8 147 grain FMJ-BTs through the chest cavity at 2800 FPS… but that;s the 11 Bravo in me.
500 grain 45-70 punch bullet in the chest.
95B (mos is now 31B iirc) MP here, could have been doing the shooting if he was messing with nuke stuff overseas.
IOM, 136 years would be cruel and unusual.
A sentence of no more than 99 consecutive years total, with possibility of 20 years ‘good time for early release’. would be fair.
So, first parole hearing in 79 years from now.
I assume that during his incarceration he’d be kept in protective custody. Since his crimes involved betraying the United States to its enemies, Bradley Manning would probably be about as popular in a military prison as Jerry Sandusky would be in a civilian prison.
Protective custody in Manning’s case is 23 hours of bright light, no communication with any outsiders, and no clothing to wear.
All for his own protection against any possible self-harm, or course.
IIRC Kimba Wood was nominated for Attnry General not a judgeship.
Not guilty of aiding the enemy because he had to have an ‘evil intent’ and know it would be seen by the enemy? Was Bernie prosecuting this case as well?
The rat bastard should be executed and it should be televised. Where’s Gen. Patton when you need him?
Obama will pardon him.
Obama will pardon him.
Seems a little devil may care even for a term-limited politician.
I had forgotten that a hacker turned the little punk in to authorities. Pretty damned awesome.
“… it seemed incomprehensible that someone could leak that massive amount of data and not have it endanger human life,” Lamo said. “If I had acted for my own comfort and convenience and sat on my hands with that information, and I had endangered national security … I would have been the worst kind of coward.”
[…] what Manning did — I refer you specifically to 18 U.S.C. § 793(e), the statute underlying the bulk of the charges Manning […]
[…] Legal Insurrection has a list of all counts and whether manning was guilty or not guilty. […]
Promote him to general and put him in charge of the NSA/