Key witness excused from testifying in U.S.

leaks case
By Alina Selyukh
FORT MEADE, MD Sun Dec 18, 2011 6:38pm EST
1 regarding 5. U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning sometimes appears in the courtroom sketch in
your course of his Army Article 32 hearing within the courthouse with Fort Meade, Maryland,
December 16, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Bill Hennessy
FORT MEADE, MD (Reuters) - A New key witness ended up being excused via testifying inside the
case against Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning about Sunday right after he invoked his
proper against self-incrimination at a hearing about the largest leak regarding classified documents
in U.S. history.
Sergeant Initial Class Paul Adkins invoked his right against self-incrimination as he began answering
concerns in a proceeding to be able to see whether there was sufficient evidence for you to court-
martial the 24-year-old Manning on costs such as aiding the particular enemy, that carries existence
imprisonment.
Manning will be charged with downloading enormous data files from the military's classified
network when he was a U.S. Army intelligence analyst inside Iraq, along with providing them to anti-
secrecy website WikiLeaks.
The defense provides portrayed Adkins, from the time any master sergeant in charge of safety at the
facility exactly where Manning worked, as somebody who needs to end up being able to have
acknowledged the actual private's troubled psychological state and acted for you to revoke the
safety clearance that will gave him usage of classified U.S. documents.
Manning's attorney, David Coombs, argued which Adkins should not really be excused because he
was not under criminal investigation in the case, nevertheless the prosecution declined for you to
grant him immunity for you to testify and he has been excused.
A second intelligence analyst which worked using Manning, Warrant Officer 1 Kyle Balonek,
furthermore invoked his right against self-incrimination and also has been excused from testifying
on Sunday. He had been among one of the most experienced analysts inside the unit.
Coombs argued in Saturday that Manning had displayed warning indications of emotional instability
prior to his alleged wrongdoing and also struggled along with his gender identity.
In 1 incident, Manning "got furious as well as upset, flipped the table during the outburst" and sent
some sort regarding computer crashing towards the ground, Coombs said. Manning had to become
restrained over fears he had been headed for any weapon.
Captain Casey Fulton, an Army intelligence officer who labored within the identical secure facility as
Manning, testified which an additional occasion the lady observed him curled up about the ground
along along with his arms about his knees as Adkins spoke to become able to him.
SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED ACCESS
Fulton furthermore testified that will later on that will night she overheard any commotion by which
Manning allegedly struck the female superior, which in turn ended up being in addition reported to
end up being able to Adkins and resulted inside Manning being gone to reside in work in the supply
division.
As it cross-examined prosecution witnesses in Sunday, the protection team continued to end up
being able to claim that Manning should not have had usage of classified documents, given his
emotional state.
Fulton, which used Manning in her function preparing for your Iraqi election, rejected suggestions
which supervision of lower-level analysts just like Manning has been lax.
"It's impossible for you to supervise 100 percent in the time," the lady said. "There's the restricted
quantity regarding supervisors as well as you can't supervise every person at every second of the
day. (You) trust which they'll safeguard the information the way they've been taught."
Sergeant Chad Madaras, who labored inside the same facility as Manning in the actual program of
the afternoon and also employed the identical computer, acknowledged which soldiers regularly
used classified computers to experience music, movies along with video games.
Those recordings, movies as well as video gaming had been kept on a classified network drive -
where Fulton testified very first visiting a helicopter gunsight video released simply by WikiLeaks
final year.
The video shows any 2007 U.S. helicopter attack which killed any dozen people within Iraq, such as
two Reuters journalists. U.S. investigators say they have discovered the rewritable CD with that
video throughout Manning's possession.
Captain Thomas Cherepki, an info methods manager whom oversaw networks at Manning's facility,
said intelligence analysts like Manning had to have the power to copy information coming from their
classified machines on to discs to share information using one another along with using locals.
DEFENSE FOCUS ON MENTAL STATE
"There had been zero technical restriction put in location by me or some of my soldiers in order to
avoid in which through happening," he said. "The simply factor that might stop that, within my view
will be believe in that the soldier would do what's right."
The prosecution features portrayed Manning like a well-trained analyst whom understood his
responsibilities nevertheless violated them. the defense provides tried to sidestep the actual problem
involving blame and concentrate instead in his mental state.
Manning's brigade chief, Captain Steven Lim, in Saturday testified that will Adkins had received an
e-mail inside April 2010 by which Manning mentioned he suffered from a gender identity disorder
which was affecting his life, work along with ability to think.
The email included a new photo regarding Manning as a woman. Lim stated Adkins did not simply
tell him in regards for you to the e-mail until right after Manning's arrest. Manning, it was disclosed
throughout the proceedings, has generated a new female alter-ego online, Breanna Manning.
Manning had been arrested a 12 months ago right after disclosing his data thefts for you to former
hacker Adrian Lamo, whom turned him within for you to U.S. authorities.
In Internet chats along with Lamo, Manning said he would bring CDs in order to his workplace and
also load them downloaded information from your military's Secret World wide web Protocol Router
Network, known as SIPRNet, Lamo advised Reuters inside a prior interview.