The Kafkaesque trial of Bradely Manning: UPDATE at end of thread... [View all]

[Luminous Animal]

Last edited Wed Jun 6, 2012, 06:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Sometimes the government says that the defense is being "too narrow" in its requests, at other times "too broad".

Coombs comments sarcastically: "The defence believes that no defence discovery request would ever be 'just right' to satisfy Goldilocks."

When the defence asked to see "damage assessments" or "investigations" that the government had carried out into the likely impact of WikiLeaks, he was told none existed.

After much effort was expended, Coombs managed to get the government to admit that what he should have asked for – according to its vocabulary – was "working papers".

"By morphing, distorting and constantly changing definitions, the government is trying to 'define' itself out of producing relevant discovery," Coombs complains. "It cannot be permitted to do this."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/03/bradley-manning-lawyer-government-documents