Posted on 12/08/2004 6:38:37 PM PST by xzins
1st AD captain to face court-martial in shooting death of wounded Iraqi man
Stars and Stripes European edition, Wednesday, December 8, 2004
A 1st Armored Division officer will stand trial on a charge that he fatally shot an unarmed, wounded Iraqi man while his unit was deployed downrange.
Capt. Rogelio M. Maynulet, 29, of Chicago, now assigned to the division’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company, will be court-martialed on charges of assault with intent to commit murder and dereliction of duty, according to a 1st AD news release. He faces a maximum combined sentence of 20½ years in prison, said Maj. Michael Indovina, the 1st AD public affairs officer.
While awaiting trial, Maynulet is not in custody and has been “conducting normal duties as an officer” while his case has been under review, Indovina said.
Maynulet, who at the time of the shooting was commander of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, faces the charges from a May 21 incident near Kufa, Iraq.
Maynulet was leading his tank company on a patrol when they came across a BMW sedan believed to be carrying a driver for radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and another militiaman loyal to the cleric, whose supporters rose up against U.S. forces twice this year.
U.S. soldiers chased the vehicle and fired shots at it, wounding both the driver and passenger.
When a medic pulled the driver out of the car, it was clear he had suffered critical injuries, with part of his skull blown away, according to testimony during the Article 32 hearing.
Maynulet’s fellow officer, 1st Lt. Colin Cremin, testified that Maynulet told him he then shot the Iraqi in the base of the neck or the back of the head.
“It was something he didn’t want to do, but it was the compassionate response,” Cremin testified. “It was definitely the humane response.”
During Maynulet’s Article 32 hearing, which is similar to a civilian grand jury, the shooting was described by prosecutors as murder and by others as an “act of mercy.”
Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the 1st AD commander, had received the case after the October hearing in Hanau, Germany, found that there was enough evidence for a court-martial. Dempsey decided on Monday to forward the case to a general court-martial.
Indovina said he couldn’t release the amount of time it took Dempsey to decide the case.
A judge has yet to be assigned to the case. When that happens, the judge will determine the trial dates and venue and possibly set an arraignment date.
Maynulet’s fellow officer, 1st Lt. Colin Cremin, testified that Maynulet told him he then shot the Iraqi in the base of the neck or the back of the head.
Does anyone know any examples of this kind of thing in other wars?
judgmental
"Don't shoot, let them burn!"
Who preferred the charges?
If I had to guess, since it sounds like Cpt Maynulet was open about it, that it was probably his battalion commander.
The military lawyers should stay busy doing something more useful, like searching landfills for scrap armor. This situation is not right.
I can't cite any specific examples but have always suspected that it happens more frequently than reported.
In one sense, it happens passively at every battlefield hospital in the triage area.
They have a group called the "expectants" that they intentionally don't treat because they're considered impossible to fix...they are expected to die. Therefore, they operate first on those who have a chance to live.
That's both enemy and FRIENDLY casualties.
Appears infinitly more humane than sawing his head off with a dull knife.
Absolutely no doubt about that.
The beheaded were in perfectly healthy condition.
On the face of it, it sounds to me like he acted without malice, believing his action to be the only humane thing to be done.
Still, a courts martial may be the only way to really get the facts straight and documented. An acquittal in a courts martial would be the best thing for this soldier, since it means that the matter has been fully and fairly investigated.
It closes the matter. At least I hope that's where this is going.
Yep, me too. I agree with you.
I wasn't there. Thank the good Lord he didn't have an embed reporter along with him.
Touh call. But to characterize this as an "assault to commit murder" is too much. It was in the heat of combat and he made a field decision. Drop the charges, return him to normal duty, and tell him that the next time, let nature take its course.
Similar examples? Well, when I was taking Command & General Staff College course (1987) (think of this as the Army's version of a Masters Degree in Military Science), one of the readings we were assigned told the story of a British unit in Burma that had to leave some severely wounded behind. They had to retreat across difficult terrain. These wounded would not have survived the journey and would have suffered extremely none the less. The head doctor for the unit administered lethal doses of morphine knowing that the Japanese would use them for bayonet practice.
Is it routine? No. Does it happen? Yes. This officer's mistake was to talk about it afterwards. Very poor judgement on his part. Not only for his own sake but that of the officer he told. Telling his fellow officer was very unprofessional since it forced the fellow officer to either bring charges or to become an accomplice after the fact. One does not place your fellow officer in such a position.
My impression was that the other officer was there, and was a witness. But even so, it does place that other officer in the awkward position that you describe. It has to be written up, or he puts himself at risk later.
It's tough. I really hope that the CM returns an acquittal if the facts are as reported. That's the right thing to do.
"Maynulet’s fellow officer, 1st Lt. Colin Cremin, testified that Maynulet told him he then shot the Iraqi in the base of the neck or the back of the head."
Right!
Ah! OK... very well then.
Yes! Private Ryan
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