I kind of doubt the strategy will be to seek acquittal. They will probably try to build some sympathy and convince the court it was her intention to do good for America, not to help an enemy or earn money. They will probably also plead diminished capacity due to depression and gender dysphoria (if that sort of thing flies in military court). Hope for a lighter punishment and return to society before she's an old lady.
> I kind of doubt the strategy will be to seek acquittal
I'd be fairly surprised if two of the key points on which the defense will assert that legal errors were made at trial are not:
(1) the trial court inappropriately denied the motion to dismiss all charges with prejudice due to the government's denial of Manning's Constitutional right to due process by way of unlawful pretrial punishment, and
(2) the trial court inappropriately denied the motion to dismiss all charges with prejudice due to the government's denial of Manning's Constitutional right to speedy trial.
(Note that both of these trial-court legal decisions preceded, and formed part of the context for, the guilty plea; prior to those events, Manning had not entered a plea.)
The idea that the appeal will focus only on sentence seems to me to be quite unlikely.
But this wasn't a case of doing something good for America. Manning stated they did this because of America's stand on gay marriage. This was not an act of moral compassion for America, this was revenge. We should not reward people who violate laws simply because they claim they were doing it "for the good of America."
