Bradley Manning, the US soldier who risks life in prison for leaking a trove of US government secrets to WikiLeaks, will learn the verdict in his trial today.
The military judge hearing the court-martial for the former intelligence analyst is expected to announce her decision at 1pm (6pm BST).
Judge Colonel Denise Lind has to decide whether Manning is a traitor who committed espionage against his country or a whistleblower who hoped to shine a spotlight on what he felt was US government misconduct.
Manning was serving as an intelligence analyst in Iraq when he sent WikiLeaks a vast cache of secret diplomatic cables and classified military reports from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He faces 21 counts including espionage, computer fraud and theft charges, but the most serious is aiding the enemy, which carries a possible life sentence.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has called Manning a 'hero' The verdict follows about two months of conflicting testimony and evidence at the trial in Fort Meade, Maryland.
The 25-year-old has admitted giving the anti-secrecy website some 700,000 documents, pleading guilty to 10 lesser charges, including espionage and computer fraud, which could carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
But he has denied that he knowingly helped enemies of the United States, most notably Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.
He says he selected material that would not harm troops or national security.
In closing arguments, defence lawyer David Coombs said Manning was no traitor but a "young, naive and good-intentioned" citizen who wanted to encourage public debate about US foreign policy.
Prosecutors called him an anarchist hacker and traitor who indiscriminately leaked classified information he had sworn to protect.
They said bin Laden obtained copies of some of the documents WikiLeaks published before he was killed by US Navy Seals in 2011.
"He was not a troubled young soul, he was a determined soldier with the knowledge, ability and desire to harm the United States in its war effort," lead prosecutor Major Ashden Fein told the court.
"Your honour, he was not a whistleblower - he was a traitor."
The verdict could have significant implications for civil liberties.
Supporters of Bradley Manning in Fort Meade are calling for his release Manning's supporters argue a conviction would be a huge blow for press freedoms in the US and would deter future whistleblowers from exposing government wrongdoing.
Most of the information he sent to WikiLeaks was published between April and November 2010.
The material included some 470,000 Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports, 250,000 State Department diplomatic cables and several battlefield video clips, including footage of a 2007 US Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed at least nine men.
Manning was arrested in Baghdad in May 2010.
The sentencing phase of the trial could begin as early as Wednesday.
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