BY HARUMENDHAH HELMY

ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA
 

Struggles with emotional issues and his own gender identity may have affected Pfc. Bradley Manning’s decision-making capabilities. At least—that’s what his defense attorneys said in the pretrial hearing on Saturday.

24-year-old Manning is accused of leaking classified files and diplomatic cables to whistle-blower site Wikileaks. If convicted, he faces life in prison. Here’s WRC with the latest from the hearing.

“During the pretrial hearing yesterday in Fort Meade, Md., Pfc. Manning’s defense team revealed he had created a Twitter account under the alter-ego Breanna. He also sent a picture of himself dressed as a woman to his supervisor, saying his issues were hurting his abilities to do his job.”
 

Quoting one of Manning’s defense lawyers, Politico explains why the army private’s personal struggles are part of the defense.

“When the prosecution objected to the initial defense questioning about Manning’s gender issues, Kemkes said the questions were relevant to ‘whether Pfc. Manning had diminished capacity at the time of the alleged offenses.’ An individual with diminished mental capacity could lack the intent necessary to be convicted of the charges facing Manning, Kemkes indicated.”

Manning also had a record of other problems -- he reportedly assaulted a superior, turned a table in a fit of rage, and was once found ‘curled up in a ball’ in a conference room.

A key aspect of the defense strategy seems to be noting that Manning’s supervisors did not act on these so-called erratic behaviors -- the BBC explains.

“[Lead defense lawyer] Coombs pointed out that hundreds of thousands of government employees had access to the military's classified network, and yet Pte Manning's access was never revoked. ‘If you were told of this behaviour would you consider it a minor incident?’ Mr Coombs asked ... Pte Manning's officer in charge in Iraq. ‘Probably not,’ [the officer] answered.”

The Washington Post talks to a military law expert at Regent University School of Law, who explains why the defense is using this strategy--and whether it will work.  

“...the defense team is trying to discover all the failures of the chain of command which would help them in setting up the mitigation argument for the sentencing portion of the proceeding,’ said [the expert.] But they probably would not suffice to beat the charges[, which include] aiding the enemy and violating the Espionage Act.”

Manning’s pretrial hearing is set to last at least a week. It will determine whether the army private will have to face a full court martial.