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Lawyers: Chelsea Manning attempts suicide in Va. jail Judge orders Chelsea Manning released from jail
(1 day later)
WASHINGTON — Chelsea Manning’s legal team said Wednesday that the former intelligence analyst tried to take her own life Wednesday, but was transported to a hospital where she is recovering. FALLS CHURCH, Va. — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who has been incarcerated since May for refusing to testify to a grand jury.
Manning has been in jail since May 2019 for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. She was scheduled to appear in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday for a hearing on a motion to terminate the civil contempt sanctions stemming from that refusal. U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered Manning’s release from jail after prosecutors reported that the grand jury that subpoenaed her has disbanded.
In the motion filed last month, Manning’s lawyers argued that Manning has shown during her incarceration that she can’t be coerced into testifying before a grand jury. The judge left in place more than $256,000 in fines he imposed for her refusal to testify to the grand jury, which is investigating WikiLeaks. The fines had been accumulating at a rate of $1,000 a day.
Manning served seven years in a military prison for leaking a trove of documents to WikiLeaks before President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her 35-year sentence in 2017. A hearing in the case that had been scheduled for Friday has now been canceled. Manning had argued that she had shown through her prolonged stay at the Alexandria jail that she proved she could not be coerced into testifying and therefore should be released.
Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne said Wednesday: “There was an incident at approximately 12:11 p.m. today at the Alexandria Adult Detention Center involving inmate Chelsea Manning. It was handled appropriately by our professional staff and Ms. Manning is safe.” On Wednesday, her lawyers said she attempted suicide while at the jail.
Andy Stepanian, a spokesman for Manning’s legal team, said in a statement Wednesday that Manning “remains unwavering in her refusal to participate in a secret grand jury process that she sees as highly susceptible to abuse.” Manning was held since May for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating Wikileaks. She spent an additional two months in jail earlier in 2019 for refusing to testify to a separate grand jury.
__ She could have faced nearly six more months of jail time if the grand jury had continued its work. The civil contempt citation was designed to coerce her testimony.
An earlier version of this story said Andy Stepanian is a lawyer for Chelsea Manning. Stepanian is a spokesman for Manning’s legal team. Federal prosecutors had maintained that Manning can easily effect her own release by complying with the grand jury subpoena. They said she had the same duty to provide testimony that all citizens face.
Under federal law, a recalcitrant witness can only be jailed for civil contempt if there is a reasonable belief that incarceration will coerce the witness into testifying. If the jail time has no coercive effect and is purely punitive, the recalcitrant witness is supposed to be released.
Manning has said she believes grand juries in general are an abuse of power and that she would rather starve to death than testify. Judge Trenga, in sending Manning to jail, said there was no dishonor in testifying to grand juries, which are referenced specifically in the U.S. Constitution, and that he hoped time in jail would allow Manning to reflect on that.
Manning had previously spent seven years in a military prison for delivering a trove of classified information to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is under indictment at the Alexandria courthouse and is fighting extradition to the U.S.. Manning’s 35-year sentence was then commuted by then-President Barack Obama.
It is possible that prosecutors could convene another grand jury and again subpoena Manning and she could again be jailed for refusing to testify. But there is no clear indication from prosecutors that they would do so.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.