A military judge cleared the way on
Wednesday for a member of the team that raided Osama bin Laden's
compound to testify in the trial of Bradley Manning who is charged in a
massive leak of U.S. secrets.
Colonel Denise Lind ruled for the prosecution during a pretrial hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning at Fort Meade, near Baltimore.
The government said the witness, presumably a Navy SEAL, collected digital evidence showing that an associate of bin Laden provided the al Qaeda leader with documents Manning has acknowledged sending to the WikiLeaks website.
Defense attorneys argued that proof of receipt isn't relevant to whether Manning aided the enemy.
The judge disagreed. She said the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that intelligence was both given to and received by the enemy.
The hearing, scheduled through until Friday, focuses on multiple questions about the evidence the government must produce at trial to prove its charges.
Manning pleaded guilty in February to lesser versions of some of the 22 charges he faces.
Prosecutors have said they
still intend to prove him guilty of the original charges, including
aiding the enemy, which carries a maximum life sentence.
His court-martial is scheduled to start on June 3 at Fort Meade.
The 25-year-old native of Crescent, Oklahoma, is accused of sending hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports, State Department diplomatic cables, other classified records and two battlefield video clips to WikiLeaks in 2009 and 2010 while working as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad.
In a statement he read aloud in court February 28, Manning said he sent the material to the anti-secrecy website to expose the American military's 'bloodlust' and disregard for human life in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Colonel Denise Lind ruled for the prosecution during a pretrial hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning at Fort Meade, near Baltimore.
The government said the witness, presumably a Navy SEAL, collected digital evidence showing that an associate of bin Laden provided the al Qaeda leader with documents Manning has acknowledged sending to the WikiLeaks website.
On trial: PFC Bradley Manning is escorted by military police as he departs the courtroom at Fort Meade, Maryland on Wednesday
The judge disagreed. She said the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that intelligence was both given to and received by the enemy.
The hearing, scheduled through until Friday, focuses on multiple questions about the evidence the government must produce at trial to prove its charges.
Manning pleaded guilty in February to lesser versions of some of the 22 charges he faces.
Facing life in prison: Manning is charged with
causing hundreds of thousands of classified documents to be published on
the secret-sharing website WikiLeaks
Scrutiny: Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is escorted into a courthouse in Fort Meade for his pre-trial hearing
His court-martial is scheduled to start on June 3 at Fort Meade.
The 25-year-old native of Crescent, Oklahoma, is accused of sending hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports, State Department diplomatic cables, other classified records and two battlefield video clips to WikiLeaks in 2009 and 2010 while working as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad.
In a statement he read aloud in court February 28, Manning said he sent the material to the anti-secrecy website to expose the American military's 'bloodlust' and disregard for human life in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Enemy: The prosecution alleges that documents
that Manning sent to Wikileaks found their way into the hands of Osama
bin Laden, pictured at his Pakistan compound