Manning loses 2 more rounds in motions hearing By By Larry Shaughnessy, CNN Pentagon Producer April 26, 2012 -- Updated 1801 GMT (0201 HKT) An effort to have some charges tossed out is rejected by the judge Bradley Manning's attorneys argue he is facing double charges for some allegations He is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents Fort Meade, Maryland (CNN) -- Pfc. Bradley Manning's attorneys failed again Thursday in their attempts to persuade a judge to throw out some of the charges against him. Manning is the Army intelligence analyst suspected of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military and State Department documents while serving in Iraq. Among the motions filed by Manning's legal team is one addressing what the attorneys call "unreasonable multiplication of charges" in the 16 specifications he is facing for the second charge against him. Each specification carries a 10-year maximum sentence. In several of those specifications, or counts, he's charged with illegally downloading classified information from secure government databases, and in others he's accused of transmitting that information to people not authorized to get it. Thursday, David Coombs, Manning's lead defense counsel, argued that those two counts address one act, thereby opening up the possibility that Manning could be sentenced to 20 years in prison for an act that should draw no more than a 10-year sentence. The government argued they are separate acts and separate violations of the law. The judge in the case, Col. Denise Lind, denied the defense motion, ruling that they are distinctly separate acts and the charges should remain. She left the door open, however, for the defense team to raise the motion again after a verdict is rendered and before the sentencing phase of the trial, if any. Later she ruled on a defense motion on the first count of charge two, that Manning "wrongfully and wantonly cause (d) to be published on the Internet intelligence belonging to the United States government," bringing discredit on the armed forces. Coombs said that is essentially the same as charge one, which accuses Manning of "knowingly giving intelligence to the enemy, through indirect means." Lind denied that motion as well, saying there's no evidence that Congress intended them to be considered a single crime. The judge also heard a prosecution motion asking that Manning's defense team be precluded from raising the issue of whether Manning's alleged actions caused any actual harm. The prosecution argued that they need to show only that harm "could be caused" by the actions. The judge has not said when she'll issue a ruling on that issue. She might issue a ruling Thursday on the most important outstanding motion, the defense request to have the first charge thrown out all together. That charge carries a maximum possible sentence of life in prison. Manning has no entered a plea in the case, nor has he decided whether he wants the case to be decided by a jury panel or the judge. He could wait as late as the first day of the trial to decide. For now the trial is scheduled to begin on September 21.