By DAVID DISHNEAU
FILE – In this July 30, 2013 file photo, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is escorted out of a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md. Manning is expected to give a statement Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013, during the sentencing phase of his court-martial for leaking military and diplomatic secrets. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — Army Pfc. Bradley Manning has heard the evidence. Now it’s time for him to speak.
Defense attorney David Coombs says Manning will take the stand during the sentencing phase of his court-martial Wednesday at Fort Meade near Baltimore.
Coombs says it’s up to Manning whether he will testify as a witness, or make a sworn or unsworn statement. An unsworn statement cannot be cross-examined by the prosecution.
The witness list also includes a mental health expert and Manning family members, including his aunt Debra Van Alstyne.
Manning faces up 90 years in prison for leaking reams of classified information to WikiLeaks while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2010. He claims he wanted to expose wrongdoing and provoke public debate about the U.S. military and diplomatic affairs.
