Crime / Bradley Manning Bradley Manning Defers Plea in WikiLeaks Case He puts it off for now during arraignment at Fort Meade By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Feb 23, 2012 2:18 PM CST Copied In this Dec. 22, 2011, photo, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is escorted from a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) An Army private chose not to enter a plea today to charges he made the biggest leak of classified information in US history. Bradley Manning also put off a choice of whether to be tried by a military jury or a judge alone. He was arraigned before Col. Denise Lind at Fort Meade near Baltimore. A trial date has not been set. Manning faces 22 counts, including aiding the enemy. That charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. The others carry a combined maximum of 150 years. He allegedly gave the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks more than 700,000 documents and video clips. Defense lawyers say Manning, now 24, was troubled and shouldn't have had access to classified material. (More Bradley Manning stories.) Report an error