Lawyers tell judge of Manning's fragile emotional state as they seek leniency for soldier convicted of leaking state secrets

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Bradley Manning, the US soldier convicted of leaking a huge trove of state secrets to WikiLeaks, flipped a table and had to be restrained from grabbing a gun during counseling sessions at the time of the leaks, his attorney said on Monday.

Manning's main counsel, David Coombs, referred to the incidents as he opened the mitigation stage in the 25-year-old's sentencing hearing, which began with the questioning on seven mostly senior officers who were in command of Manning.

Manning's defence team is expected to ask for leniency from the court-martial by arguing he was naïve but well-intentioned, and that his supervisors failed to properly supervise him or act upon warning signs that he was losing control.

In pre-trial hearings, Coombs made an issue of Manning's fragile emotional state at the time he made the leaks – as well as his confusion over his gender.

The defence team is expected to revisit these topics this week, questioning the welfare provided to Manning by his seniors when he was deployed to work as an intelligence analyst in an isolated base in the Iraqi desert in 2009.

On Monday they began questioning the decision by senior officers to deploy Manning, and to allow him to remain in his post with a security clearance, despite behaviour that alarmed colleagues.

Manning was convicted last month of passing more than 700,000 documents to WikiLeaks. He was found guilty of several counts under the Espionage Act, but acquitted of the most serious charge of "aiding the enemy". He is facing a possible jail sentence of 90 years when he is sentenced next week.

On Monday, Coombs called Colonel David Miller, who commanded the 4,000 soldiers in Manning's brigade, and asked him if he had been told in December 2009 that Manning had "flipped a table during a counseling session".

Miller said that the incident was not relayed to him at that time, but that he would not have necessarily been expected to been told. "Table-flipping by itself could just be an emotional outburst," he said. "There are all sorts of things that could be behind it."

Miller added: "A soldier grabbing a weapon … I would expect the average company commander could handle that."

The colonel said that the "context" of such incidents, and whether or not they were part of a pattern of behaviour, would determine whether a senior officer would need to respond.

Miller said the brigade deployed in late 2009 with a shortage of analysts – a fact echoed by several other army witnesses, who testified the brigade was short-staffed.

The incident in which Manning flipped the table occurred when he was participating in a counseling session with two co-workers, a chief warrant officer and a sergeant, Daniel Padgett.

In a previous hearing, Padgett explained how he sat down with Manning for a "counselling session" after Manning was late for work.

When Padgett tried to explain the importance of being on time, the former supervisor testified, Manning stood up and overturned a table, sending a radio and computer onto the floor.

Padgett said he moved Manning away from a gun rack while a colleague restrained him until he calmed down. Coombs said that Manning had to be dragged out of the room.

After the incident, Manning was left in his post, retaining the security clearance that allowed him to download classified documents.

Elizabeth Fields, a first lieutenant who was in an adjacent room when the table was flipped, told the court she recalled hearing "a lot of thump" and seeing Manning restrained. She later approached a supervisor and asked: "Hey, what are we doing about this soldier?"

Fields, who has since been promoted to the rank of captain, repeatedly rowed back on other aspects of testimony she previously gave in sworn statements.

Having sworn that the supervisory leadership in the unit she shared with Manning was "terrible", for example, Field said she no longer endorsed that view.

"With the experience gained, I now have a new perspective, looking back, and now see everyone performed to the best of their abilities," she said.

Fields also said she had "no recollection" of another incident documented in her sworn statement, relating to an occasion when Manning was found lying on the floor and "rocking back and forth" for an hour. Pressed by Coombs, she insisted: "Seriously sir, I cannot remember I ever witnessed anything like that."

When questioned in 2011, Fields said there had been "no accountability" over monitoring memory disks and CDs taken into a secure room. But on Monday said her position had changed. "As of right now, I don't recall," she said, when asked about auditing in the computer room.

At the end of Field's testimony, the judge presiding over the court martial, Colonel Denise Lind, asked her: "If you made factual statements in respect of something happening or not happening, would they have been true, given you don't remember them today?"

Fields replied: "Yes, ma'am."

Another witness, Captain Michael Johnson, said he found Manning "tardy".

When he heard about the table-flipping incident, Johnson said he alerted other supervising officers, believing action needed to be taken.

Using the army slang for junior intelligence analysts, Johnson said: "It is not uncommon for 35 foxes to be high maintenance, but he [Manning] had crossed the line."

Several senior officers told the hearing they had not been made aware of the incident when it occurred. They included Major Clifford Clawson, who headed the brigade's intelligence branch, and also testified that, prior to Manning's deployment, he had been told the soldier was having "anger issues".

He said he also knew that Manning had self-referred for counseling.

Clausen later received a letter of reprimand as a result of an army investigation into Manning's actions. He was among 15 people disciplined in the case.

Manning admitted months ago to being the source of the leaks, and his defence strategy at his trial – which is taking place on the Forte Meade military base in Maryland – is focused on seeking a significant reduction of his sentence.

A sentencing phase of a US court martial functions like a second, truncated trial, at which both defence and prosecution make their case for the appropriate punishment.

The prosecution case concluded on Friday. Government witnesses testified about the damage that Manning's leaks damage done to US military and other government departments.

The defence is expected to call several of witnesses over the next three days. Manning will also make a statement, according to his lawyer.

Whatever sentence Manning receives will be reduced by the more than three years because of the time he has already spent in custody since his arrest in May 2010.

A further 112 days will be deducted from the sentence as part of a pre-trial ruling in which Lind compensated Manning for the excessively harsh treatment he endured at the Quantico marine base in Virginia.

Lind began Monday's court proceedings by saying that courthouse security had been tightened after a covertly shot video of the proceedings, recorded from an overflow room, was leaked on the internet.

The judge however said the overwhelming majority of journalists and members of the public had behaved with the "decorum" she said was expected at a military trial.

In a separate development on Monday, officials from the Nobel Prize committee said they had received a petition claiming 100,000 signatures that endorses awarding the peace prize to Manning.

Nobel committee member Asle Toje, who was given the petition, said the annually awarded $1m Nobel Prizes are "not a popularity contest" and the petition would neither weaken nor strengthen Manning's nomination.