Posted on 02/26/2005 5:36:37 PM PST by Former Military Chick
The court-martial of a 1st Armored Division captain accused of murdering an Iraqi man last year is set to begin March 28, according to Army officials.
If coverage of the preliminary hearings last fall is any indication, the trial of Capt. Rogelio M. Maynulet should generate great interest among servicemembers and the media. Some view the case as “an act of mercy” to a dead or dying man, while Army prosecutors maintain it was murder.
Maynulet is charged with premeditated murder and dereliction of duty relating to the May 21 death of a man believed to be associated with the insurgency campaign against U.S. troops. At the time of the incident, Maynulet commanded Company A, 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, and was viewed by many superiors as a rising star.
“Captain Maynulet maintains his innocence, and I think that the court members will reach the right and just verdict,” Capt. Will Helixon, the lead defense attorney, said in a telephone interview Friday.
The trial will be held in the courtroom on Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Germany.
Maj. Michael Indovina, a division spokesman, said the proceedings are expected to last several days.
“It will definitely go the full week, based on the number of witnesses,” Helixon said.
The list for both sides includes about 45 to 50 names, Helixon said.
Prosecutors are expected to introduce a 10-minute video of the incident and the events preceding it. An unmanned aerial vehicle operating at the time near the Iraqi cities of Kufa and Najaf apparently captured the shooting on tape.
The video was not played in open court during the pretrial hearing. The encounter between Maynulet and the Iraqi man came at the end of a vehicle chase between U.S. soldiers and a car believed to contain militia forces.
In a U.S. Central Command news release following the incident, the Army stated “the driver and a passenger were wounded” when U.S. forces shot at their vehicle. “Shortly thereafter, the wounded driver was shot and killed at close range.”
At the preliminary hearing, defense attorneys presented expert medical testimony and a report by the on-scene medic. The report stated there were at least two bullet wounds to the base of the driver’s skull and that brain matter was on his clothes and in the car. A medical expert said a person in such a state could still move, but it would likely be involuntarily.
As the scene was unfolding, there were gunbattles with insurgents in the immediate vicinity, and evacuation of the injured was not possible, according to defense witnesses.
During Maynulet’s Article 32 hearing in December, 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.”
Whatever the circumstances, prosecutors argue Maynulet unlawfully killed a man who, at the time, was alive, even if his chances for survival were slim.
If we should error should it not be on the side of the soldier whose life is on the line at that very moment or that he sees a man dyeing and offers mercy.
What would you do?
Let's hope this is not a PC trial.
3 Soldiers were jailed in the UK this week and that may well have been a sop, to the anti war crowd.
As the scene was unfolding, there were gunbattles with insurgents in the immediate vicinity, and evacuation of the injured was not possible, according to defense witnesses.
If I was a conservative grassroot political committee, I would seek out returning GI's from Iraq and convince them that the only way to eliminate this BS, is to run for office, pass laws and throw all these noncombatant officials out of our Pentagon.
Hear, hear!
The war in Iraq has been mismanaged by men who never served and refuse to listen to those with experience.
This entire thing is unvelievable to me.
I've lived through WWII,Korea,Vietnam,Grenada,and both Gulf wars and have never seen anything like this.
The Calley case,of course,came out of Vietnam but this stuff is different.
When I see how these brave young men are treated I'm glad I have no one in the miltary anymore.
What men?
Don't let the Schiavo threads see this or you'll be swamped with name-calling and accusations that the soldier is a "monster"...
"Prosecutors are expected to introduce a 10-minute video of the incident and the events preceding it. An unmanned aerial vehicle operating at the time near the Iraqi cities of Kufa and Najaf apparently captured the shooting on tape."
Good God, had they had the immense amount of watchdogs including unmanned aerial's taping and inbedded journalists and cameras during WWII as they have in Iraq the WWII itself would never had been prosecuted as they would have spent all their time in courts prosecuting soldiers.
The report stated there were at least two bullet wounds to the base of the driver’s skull and that
- brain matter was on his clothes and in the car. -
A medical expert said a person in such a state could still move, but it would likely be involuntarily.
Mercy or Murder.
There is the report, properly separated, you decide.
The Marine, who was accused to killing the unarmed man, was found not guilty last week. Someone had a petition drive that accumulated over 300,000 signatures in favor of that Marine.
Someone had a petition for Capt. Maynulet on petitionsonline.com. Sadly, the last time I checked it, it had around 3,000 total signatures.
It is a shame that Capt. Maynulet has not received an outpouring of support and and petition drive in his favor.
When you want your opinion or comment heard, I'm a firm believer in telephone calls to the White House, DOD, RNC, your Senator (except here in CA where we have idiots in office) or Congressman. I know from previous political experience, the more telephone calls they get, the more attention an issue gets. Very few people in this country take the time to telephone or write so each call or letter is given a lot of weight. When politicians get thousands upon thousands of calls, they know an issue is HOT. So, call in your support for these brave soldiers being hung out to dry.
When you want your opinion or comment heard, I'm a firm believer in telephone calls to the White House, DOD, RNC, your Senator (except here in CA where we have idiots in office) or Congressman. I know from previous political experience, the more telephone calls they get, the more attention an issue gets. Very few people in this country take the time to telephone or write so each call or letter is given a lot of weight. When politicians get thousands upon thousands of calls, they know an issue is HOT. So, call in your support for these brave soldiers being hung out to dry.
Evidently you do not understand why schiavo supporters are upset: Although the woman has severe brain damage, she is not in pain, and sometimes interacts with her family, which makes her mom and dad happy.
The only medical intervention in her case is that she is fed thru a tube: the reason for this is that it would take a nurse a loooong time to feed her by hand. Nurses do not have all day to spend feeding one person- thus the tube. It is a convenience for her caregivers.
Schiavo's husband wants to have the tube withdrawn so that schiavo will die of thirst.
It is monsterous, and anyone who believes starving someone to death is an act of mercy is monsterous.
Consider this: If one of our soldiers were to capture a wounded Iraqi and let him lay in a cell, all the while withholding food and water for 9 days or so, until the prisoner died in agony of dehydration, that would be a crime.
And that's exactly what they want to do to this woman.
This marine should be exonerated. I cannot believe they are persecuting soldiers this way.
You're misinformed. It was Mrs. Schiavo's parents who wanted to deny her the morphine that would stop her agony.
Followups to Schiavo thread, ok?
This was a friggin' combat zone! Anyone assisting the enemy in any way should be terminated with extreme prejudice as a matter of course!
I don't see any parallel between executing an innocent woman and executing a war criminal. Even if the guy was perfectly healthy, by my rights our soldiers have a duty to put a bullet through his head.
So you're saying the parents are the ones who want her dehydrated to death? You're saying that it is the parents who want to cause the agony of death by thirst?
No, I think you know what you're saying, you're just spinning it to suit yourself. Any agony that needs to be relieved by morphine is the agony of death by thirst caused by her husband. Her parents want her to live, and I'm sure that would not be the case if her life was a day to day horror of agony.
The only one who lives in day to day agony at her existence is Michael Schiavo. Her life is agony to him. He wants to stop feeding his wife, and yes, that is immoral.
So mercy for an enemy (involuntary euthanasia) is good; mercy for an innocent woman who wants it (voluntary euthanasia) is bad?
Sick.
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