Manning Defers Plea as Court-Martial Starts
On Thursday, accused WikiLeaker and military detainee Pfc. Bradley Manning showed up for a hearing in Fort Meade, Md., where he heard the 22 charges against him for allegedly making classified documents publicly available via the Internet and held off on entering a plea. –KA
Reuters via Google News:
Manning’s plea deferral allows his defense team time to strategize and see the outcome of several motions to be heard before the trial begins, which could be as late as August.
“It basically leaves their options open,” said a legal expert with the Military District of Washington, the Army command unit for the capital region, who was present at the arraignment. The expert could not be named under rules imposed on media covering the proceedings.