Bradley Manning Has Already Waited 1 1/2 Years For A Trial

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

Bradley Manning Has Already Waited 1 1/2 Years For A Trial
(posted with permission from: http://sane-ramblings.blogspot.com/2011/11/bradley-manning-has-waited-over-1-12.html)

US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, who was arrested on May 26, 2010, is doing hard time at Leavenworth for allegedly sharing classified material with WikiLeaks. Whether he is guilty or not awaits to be seen but for now, like many a Guantanamo prisoner, he is being held indefinitely and away from the media spotlight.

Why does his case matter so much to you and me as Americans? Because someone leaked a quarter million secret U.S. government documents to WikiLeaks which released them to the world news media so that Americans and others could learn what the U.S. government is actually doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thank goodness. How else can any people hold their government accountable when those people are kept in the dark by a government that keeps so much of its activities secretive.

That government accuses Manning of "aiding the enemy" which is a capital offense, punishable by death, although prosecutors have indicated they won't seek the death penalty. At first he was held in solitary confinement from July, 2010 to April, 2011 at the Marine Corp brig in Quantico, VA but Amnesty International and many legal scholars claimed his treatment was harsh, punitive and in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The government then moved him to Leavenworth, placing him among hardened criminals. Meanwhile 23 year old Manning waits to present his case. Is this what the U.S. now stands for? Is this rule of law or a vendetta meant to scare anyone else who might go public with secret U.S. government actions?

I believe the reason he has been locked away indefinitely without trial is the U.S. government is concerned that as part of his defense, Manning's lawyers will put the Iraq and Afghan Wars on trial, as well as the secretive actions the government takes to keep its citizens in the dark. This case may well even examine the huge and costly, non-competitive contracts given to the military industrial complex so understandably, the U.S. government wants Manning silenced.

[DeSwiss]

1. K&R n/t

[Scuba]

2. Maybe they're still trying to find enough officers who would vote to convict in a Court Martial. n

[William769]

3. K&R.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. "..the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial.." 6th Amendment

Sixth Amendment - Rights of Accused in Criminal Prosecutions



In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

[jberryhill]

6. That is waived when one volunteers to be subject to the UCMJ

The article does not go into the reasons for the delay, and which side has sought more time for what.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. UCMJ - Bring the guilty man in for a fair trial and sentencing.

[jberryhill]

8. Has his defense filed a motion to that effect

I haven't seen the docket in this case, so I don't know who has moved for what. If they have a stack of evidentiary motions to get through, then that takes time. What have been the motions thus far?

On edit:

http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/update-111411-the-military-gives-an-update-on-bradleys-case-our-call-in-action-week-commences

The defense, prosecutors and intelligence agencies have been sparring over what can be disclosed in open proceedings in a case involving the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history.

---

In other words, they are still doing preliminary motions. You want the case to go to trial before the evidentiary record is settled?

[Capitalocracy]

10. That may be true according to current interpretation of law...

but I believe there are some rights you can't sign away.

[jberryhill]

12. The trial is being delayed in order to hear DEFENSE motions

So, let me get this straight.

The defense has filed a bunch of motions that need to be heard and decided. These have delayed the Article 32 hearing.

And this delay is the government's fault.

Do I understand you correctly?

[Capitalocracy]

13. I didn't say anything about that

all I said was I disagree that you sign your right to a fair trial away when you sign up for the military, regardless of what current law may say. You can't sign away your right to a fair trial.

[jberryhill]

17. Are you joking?

You can sign away your right to a fair trial, military or not, by confessing to a crime and pleading guilty.

That's what a guilty plea is. People do it every day. Heck, in traffic court where I live, the judge requires you to affirmatively acknowledge waiver of a bunch of stuff, just to plead guilty to a traffic ticket.

You can sign away your right to counsel, too, if you want.

Your rights are yours to assert or not to assert.

[Capitalocracy]

26. So undergoing a military trial is the same as pleading guilty?

Sounds about right.

[jberryhill]

27. No

Let's recap.

The military runs a separate criminal system which provides many of the due process safeguards of the civilian system.

However, when you volunteer to join the military, you agree to be tried under that system, and not the civilian ones. You waive a lot of rights which you would otherwise have, and agree to a modified set of rights.

Can you waive Constitutional rights? Yes. You do it all of the time. For example, when you go to work, you show up and do your job. You do not conduct church services there in your cubicle, workstation, assembly line, job site or what have you (unless that is your job), even though you have a Constitutional right to free exercise of your religion.

But, no, I did not say that joining the military is the same as a guilty plea. I was responding to your assertion that one cannot sign away a right to a trial, as a much more general and broader proposition.

[MilesColtrane]

18. The Manual for Courts-Martial proscribes a general maximum of 120 days for a "speedy trial".

http://www.jag.navy.mil/documents/mcm2008.pdf


In the last couple of high profile civilian spy cases the trials were convened relatively swiftly, but Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen both copped deals and pled guilty.

[jberryhill]

21. Absent motions, sure

Yes, the UCMJ has a speedy trial requirement separate from the 6th amendment

[Huey P. Long]

5. So many injustices. What the fuck....what the fuck.

[struggle4progress]

9. "... Based upon several defense motions in this case, the government has placed the Article 32

hearing on hold until it can determine the classification level of the case ..."
Bradley Manning legal update and overview
By David Coombs, attorney for Bradley Manning. November 1, 2010
http://www.couragetoresist.org/bradley-manning/870-bradley-manning-legal-update-and-overview.html

So what happened was this: Manning's attorney Coombs introduced various motions intended to buy time and delay the Article 32 hearing, with the result that the Article 32 hearing has been delayed -- at which point some Manning supporters promptly and disingenuously began to complain that the government was holding Manning in indefinite detention and violating his right to speedy proceedings :crazy:

[jberryhill]

11. Yep

I get that there is hardly any understanding of how various kinds of legal proceedings work, but to assert that the government is simply sitting on this case, when there is active motion practice going on, is dishonest.

[DevonRex]

25. Thank you so much for posting the facts. Nt

[gratuitous]

14. And, in case you're not pissed enough . . .

Manning has spent more time in jail without trial than Scooter Libby ever served after being convicted.

Tell me that one about "justice for all" again; it allus makes me laugh.

[ljm2002]

15. Thanks for the update...

...we cannot forget Bradley Manning.

On edit: I said: "I never thought I'd see the day when our government would imprison a U.S. citizen indefinitely without trial. At least not openly like this." -- Apparently there are motions in progress, and current delays are due to defense motions.

In any case, it is good to get updates.

K&R

[MineralMan]

16. Well, the thing is that defense motions are the main reason for

these delays. The case is in process, but the defense is making motions that must be heard and ruled on before the actual trial can take place. That's the same thing that happens often in civilian trials. You should probably check your facts a little better before posting, I think.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

19. Defense motions,....or rulings on defense motions?

you said, "defense is making motions that must be heard"...What takes so long to hear and rule on these motions?

[msanthrope]

20. Unrec for misleading information regarding the delay of trial.

There are several defense motions pending. None of them have to do with a defense claim that Manning is not getting a speedy trial.

Unless his lawyer is complaining, why are you?

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

22. defense motions pending...

How long does it have to pend, before it is considered not a speedy trial?

[jberryhill]

28. Well, Rule 707 provides the right to move for dismissal for lack of a speedy trial

(2) Motions. Upon accused’s timely motion to a
military judge under R.C.M. 905 for speedy trial
relief, counsel should provide the court a chronology
detailing the processing of the case. This chronology
should be made a part of the appellate record.
(d) Remedy. A failure to comply with this rule will
result in dismissal of the affected charges, or, in a
sentence - only rehearing, sentence relief as
appropriate.

So, either Mr. Coombs has his head up his ass for not filing such a motion, or probably has a good idea what the procedural status of the case is.

In most criminal prosecutions of any kind, you frequently find the defense seeking delays for a number of reasons more often than you find the prosecution seeking delay. That is usually because the prosecution has more staff, and government powers, to prepare its case than the defense does.

But if there are 100 pieces of evidence being contested for admissibility, for example, then it takes as long as it takes to hear and rule on each one.

[msanthrope]

30. Depends. If the defense attorney thought it was a problem, he would file a motion for speedy trial.

He hasn't.

[DefenseLawyer]

23. I thought DU loved pre-trial detention?

Oh wait, we like Bradley Manning. I forgot.

[jberryhill]

29. Wouldn't you like to design a high school civics curriculum on law?

[SidDithers]

24. What does his defense attorney have to say about the delays?...nt

Sid

[Bodhi BloodWave]

32. Likely nothing since he is one of the main causes for the delay with the filed defense motions n/t

[Cid_B]

31. Additional fact about throwing him in with "hardened criminals"

Last I saw, Manning was at the MJRC facility which is for 5 years and less. I saw his cell. It looked comfy. It certainly isn't OZ where he running for his little life.