Attorney asks for dismissal in WikiLeaks case

[kpete]

Source: Seattle Post Intelligencer

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — An attorney for an Army private charged with leaking hundreds of thousands of pages of classified information asked a military judge Thursday to dismiss the charges against his client, arguing the government bungled the turning over of documents in the case.

The request came during a hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning at a military courtroom at Fort Meade, Md., near Baltimore. Military prosecutors say Manning, a 24-year-old Oklahoma native, downloaded and sent to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents and diplomatic cables. The military says Manning indirectly aided al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula by giving information to the WikiLeaks site.
Defense lawyers say Manning was clearly a troubled young soldier whom the Army should never have deployed to Iraq or given access to classified material. They say the leaked material did little or no harm to national security.

On Thursday, military prosecutors and Manning's attorney David Coombs disagreed about the extent of the government's obligation to turn over documents in the case before trial. Coombs argued the government has to turn over a broad range of documents, including ones that are classified, but he has not received information he requested. He said he was asking that charges against his client be dismissed because the government has "hopelessly" messed up the document turnover in the nearly two years his client has been incarcerated.




Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Attorney-asks-for-dismissal-in-WikiLeaks-case-3408717.php#ixzz1pDWbDiVy

[truedelphi]

1. Kudos to David Coombs, and good luck on your

Strategy.

But I suspect we will see real justice in this case at the same moment that hell freezes over, or that a Presidential Press Conference is offered up in which Obama apologizes to the nation for the actions of Tim Geithner.

[gateley]

2. Happy to hear he has someone fighting for him. I don't expect anything will come of

it, but I was concerned that his counsel might just be going through the motions, so nice to hear otherwise.

[gratuitous]

3. That whole "due process" stuff is overrated, and here's a prime example of why

"Everybody" knows how guilty Bradley Manning is, and here's his attorney asking the court to dismiss all the charges because of prosecutorial bungling. It's like they have to go through all this evidence and stuff, and prove things, and it's just so inconvenient and inefficient. If the prosecution screws up one little thing, it's like they can't convict him at all!

It's so much more streamlined to just torture a confession out of the accused, or kill him outright. No questions then about guilt or innocence.

[gateley]

4. Info on David Coombs:

The Law Office of David E. Coombs was established to provide exceptional legal counsel, service, and representation to soldiers. The firm specializes in representing members of the United States Army facing criminal and adverse administrative actions. Mr. Coombs is very serious about his work, and is committed to going above and beyond to help his client-soldiers fight their case. Whether you are facing a simple administrative action or a serious general court-martial, Mr. Coombs has the experience, knowledge, and insight to build a strong, effective, and compelling defense case on your behalf.

http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/

He served in Iraq and his wife is a law professor.

[midnight]

5. If you go to the link it shows the back of manning, and it looks like he is swimming in his pants.

[Solly Mack]

6. k/r