1. How Today's Ruling in the Bradley Manning Case Could Adversely Affect Journalists and Whistleblowers https:// pressfreedomfoundation.org/blog/2013/07/h ow-todays-aiding-enemy-ruling-bradley-mannings-case-could-affect-journalists-and <https://t.co/ZZTmiBRxB0> * * 2. *WikiLeaks* @wikileaks <https://twitter.com/wikileaks>17m<https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/357932167512334337>
Once again it is confirmed that Bradley #Manning<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Manning&src=hash>'s trial is little but a show trial. #wikileaks<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23wikileaks&src=hash> #freebrad <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23freebrad&src=hash> http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/trial-report-day-nineteen Judge refuses to dismiss Aiding the Enemy and Computer Fraud charges against Manning: trial report, day 19 digg [image: submit to reddit] <http://www.reddit.com/submit> By Nathan Fuller, Bradley Manning Support Network. July 18, 2013. [image: Defense lawyer David Coombs and Pfc. Bradley Manning, drawn by Debra Van Poolen]<http://www.bradleymanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Coombs-and-Manning-paying-attention.jpg> Defense lawyer David Coombs and Pfc. Bradley Manning, drawn by Debra Van Poolen Ruling on two defense motions to direct not-guilty verdicts, Judge Denise Lind refused to throw out the aiding the enemy and Computer Fraud charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning. The defense filed the motions at the conclusion of the governments case, before it began with its own witnesses, arguing that the government had failed to provide evidence to support its charges. Rules for Court Martial instruct the judge for this type of motion to view the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution. The judge ruled that the evidence the government provided was sufficient to not throw out the charges at this time, but at her final verdict she will weigh both government and defense evidence and could still find Manning not guilty. Judge Lind said that the prosecution established that in his training as an intelligence analyst, Manning learned that the enemy uses the Internet to attempt to obtain classified information and to keep such information secret. He plotted U.S. military activity, she said the government proved, and knew that the enemy would attempt to do the same. That evidence, she ruled,*could* tend to establish that Manning knew he was dealing with the enemy. (See here for why that evidence is weak, circumstantial, and therefore could set an extremely dangerous precedent<http://www.bradleymanning.org/featured/surprising-lack-of-evidence-against-manning-confirms-over-prosecution> .) For the computer fraud charge, she ruled that the government established that Manning used unauthorized software (the automated downloading program Wget), and that her court instructions dictate that restrictions on access include manner of access. This evidence was enough, when viewed (per her instructions) in a light most favorable to the government, to not dismiss the charge at this time. *Stealing government property charges* The parties then litigated the defenses other to motions to direct not-guilty verdicts, on the charges that Manning stole government property. The defense argues, as laid out here<http://www.bradleymanning.org/press/update-71313-mannings-defense-replies-to-governments-last-ditch-and-schizophrenic-arguments>, that the government mischarged Manning in saying that he stole databases instead of saying the stole copies of some of the records in a database and the information contained within. The first distinction is that Manning took copies, not original records, and therefore never deprived the government of the information. The second is that Manning stole records, and the information within, not the full databases themselves. He didnt take the infrastructure that makes the database searchable and interconnected, so when the government worked to establish the value (the federal statute requires the stolen property be worth more than $1,000) of the database and cost of producing it, they were proving what they charged but not what Manning ever had in his possession. Defense lawyer David Coombs used the analogy of stealing merchandise from WalMart: if he stole a sweater, he wouldnt be charged with stealing WalMart. Even if he took all of the merchandise in WalMart, he wouldnt be charged with stealing the bricks and mortar of the store, and the value of the employees wouldnt be used to prove the charge, as the government has essentially done in this case. The government contends that it charged correctly, and that information contained in a record is inherent within that record. Prosecutor Capt. Von Elton said that charging Manning with a thing of value put him on notice that he would be charged with the information within. He also said that the distinction regarding copies doesnt apply, because digital records can exist in multiple locations simultaneously, which the defense disagreed with thereafter. *Recess, rebuttal* **After the lunch recess, the government will put on its rebuttal case, as outlined last week<http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/arguments-over-defense-motions-to-dismiss-rebuttal-case-on-thursday-trial-report-day-18> . *Ill update this post later today.* [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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