On August 21, Judge Col. Denise Lind sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in military prison (minus 1294 days for pre-trial confinement). Three hours after Manning’s sentence was announced, attorney David Coombs said the appeals process will begin in a matter of days. Coombs said, “I will file a request… that the president pardon Pfc. Manning, or at the very least commute his sentence to time served.”
Coombs said, the request includes a statement from Manning himself, “I understand that my actions violated the law. I regret that my actions hurt or harmed the US. It was never my intent to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people.”