But observers said he could have agreed to choreographed proceedings that would show authorities in an impartial light in exchange for a pre-arranged sentence.
On Monday, the court proceedings were focused on selecting a panel of impartial jurors for the case.
The BBC is bound by its charter to "broadcast an impartial account day by day, prepared by professional reporters of the proceedings of Parliament".
The U.S. Army is currently reviewing the procedures set in place to safeguard the security and integrity of the legal proceedings, and ensure Pfc Manning receives a fair and impartial trial," said the Army.
"QFrom what you have heard, and I don't believe you live in a vacuum any more than the rest of us, is there anything you have read or that has been suggested by the court in these proceedings that would suggest to you why you couldn't be fair, impartial and objective in making an examination into law enforcement in this county?
The American Psychological Association offers guidelines for custody evaluations in family law proceedings citing, "Psychologists render a valuable service when they provide competent and impartial opinions with direct relevance to the 'psychological best interests' of the child".
Allen Ruby, Bonds's lead lawyer, told reporters that the task of finding a fair and impartial jury had long been a concern, but that he was pleased with Monday's proceedings.
The ailing 88-year-old appeared briefly on a trolley, but proceedings stopped when the court accepted the defence's claim that one judge was not impartial.
Judge Jane Marum Roush granted his attorneys' motion to move proceedings to Fairfax County, saying the fear the killings generated gave her concern about seating an impartial jury.
In exceptional cases at the start of proceedings, a judge may pose a question to establish whether a potential juror feels able to return an impartial verdict.
And the Americans and the international community should be pressing the commission to conduct the recount in a completely impartial and transparent manner, with international observers, journalists and representatives of all of Iraq's political parties fully monitoring the proceedings.
