FORT MEADE, Md. —
An Army private charged with sending U.S secrets to the website WikiLeaks had a history of suicidal thoughts and aloof behavior that outweighed a psychiatrist’s opinion that he was no risk to himself, two former counselors testified Sunday.
Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Jordan and Marine Master Sgt. Craig Blenis testified on the sixth day of a pretrial hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning at Fort Meade, near Baltimore. The hearing is to determine whether Manning’s nine months in pretrial confinement at the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va., were so punishing that the judge should dismiss all charges. The 24-year-old intelligence analyst is accused of sending hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the secret-spilling website in 2009 and 2010.
The counselors, both of whom worked in the brig, sat on a board that recommended to the brig commander that Manning remain in maximum custody and on either injury-prevention or suicide-risk status — conditions that kept him confined to his cell 23 hours a day, sometimes with no clothing.
Jordan said under cross-examination by defense attorney David Coombs that besides the mental-health report, he considered evidence that Manning had contemplated suicide after his arrest in Iraq in May 2010. The evidence included a noose Manning had fashioned from a bedsheet while confined in Kuwait, and a written statement he made upon arrival at Quantico in July 2010 that he was “always planning and never acting” on suicidal impulses.
Jordan acknowledged Manning had been a polite, courteous and nearly trouble-free detainee at Quantico.
“Wouldn’t his past six months of performance be an indicator of his potential for future behavior?” Coombs asked. But Jordan maintained that Manning’s unwillingness to converse with him and other brig staff was a warning sign he was at risk of self-harm.
Jordan said he considered the opinion of the brig psychiatrist, Navy Capt. William Hocter, that Manning was no longer at risk of self-harm. But Jordan said the weight he gave to Hocter’s views was tempered by the fact that another detainee had recently killed himself after his custody status was reduced on Hocter’s advice.
“I would consider it, but I would always consider it with care, sir,” he told Coombs.
Blenis, who spent more time with Manning, said Manning chose not to speak most of the time except for short, yes-or-no answers. He said Manning spurned his offers to play chess or work brain teasers by arrogantly responding, “They’re a little below my level.”
“I’ve got a person not communicating with me that’s sitting in his cell, not doing anything,” Blenis said.
He said he supported the brig commander’s decision in March 2011 to strip Manning of all clothing at night and place him on suicide watch after Manning told another staffer that if he really wanted to kill himself, he could use the elastic waistband on his underwear.
“If someone tells me they’re going to shoot themselves in the face, I’m not going to give them a gun,” Blenis said.
Manning was moved in April 2011 to pretrial confinement at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He’s been held there in medium custody since then.
Earlier Sunday, the military judge said Manning’s trial, previously set to begin Feb. 4, would be pushed back to sometime in March due to lengthy pretrial proceedings.
The hearing on Manning’s confinement was to recess Sunday and resume Wednesday.
Manning is charged with 22 offenses, including aiding the enemy, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
National, International News
Counselor: Manning’s history showed self-harm risk
- National, International News
-
-
Man shot by FBI had ties to Boston bombing suspect
A Chechen immigrant shot to death in Florida after an altercation with an FBI agent implicated himself in a triple slaying that officials believe may have been connected to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, authorities said.
-
WHO: Scientific red tape mars efforts vs. virus
International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head of the World Health Organization warned Thursday.
-
Jurors deadlock on Jodi Arias penalty; retrial set
Jurors who spent five months determining Jodi Arias’ fate couldn’t decide whether she should get life in prison or die for murdering her boyfriend, sending prosecutors back to the drawing board to rehash the shocking case of sex, lies and violence to another 12 people.
-
I-5 bridge collapses in Washington state
An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said.
-
Today in History for Friday, May 24, 2013
Today is Friday, May 24, the 144th day of 2013. There are 221 days left in the year.
-
Wave of attacks kills at least 95 in Iraq
A wave of attacks killed at least 95 people in Shiite and Sunni areas of Iraq on Monday, officials said, pushing the death toll over the past week to more than 240 and extending one of the most sustained bouts of sectarian violence the country has seen in years.
-
Arias attorneys will put one witness on: Arias
Complaining that Jodi Arias’ sensational murder case has become a modern-day “witch trial,” her lawyers tried to quit in the middle of the death-penalty phase Monday, then said they will call only one witness: Arias.
-
Oklahoma twister tracked path of 1999 tornado
Monday’s powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999.
-
Dozens killed as tornado ravages Oklahoma City area
A powerful late-afternoon tornado leveled much of this Oklahoma community Monday, killing at least 51 people. Reporters on helicopters flying above the scene described the scene as “devastating.”
-
Today in History for Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Today is Tuesday, May 21, the 141st day of 2013. There are 224 days left in the year.
- More National, International News Headlines
-
