Posted on 04/01/2005 4:31:39 PM PST by Former Military Chick
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| U.S. Soldier Convicted of Killing Iraqi Walks Free Fri Apr 1, 2005 11:41 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - A U.S. army tank company commander convicted of shooting dead a wounded Iraqi walked free from court on Friday, although he was dismissed from the army for what he called a "mercy killing."
Army Captain Rogelio Maynulet had faced up to 10 years in jail after a court martial at a U.S. army base in Wiesbaden, Germany, found him guilty of assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter.
"He was sentenced with dismissal from the United States Army ... there will be no confinement time," a military spokesman said.
Prosecutors had pressed for conviction on a more serious charge of assault with intent to commit murder, which carries a maximum 20-year jail sentence.
The shooting occurred last May when U.S. troops were pursuing suspected militiamen supporting Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr near the Iraqi city of Najaf, the court was told.
U.S. soldiers fired on a car, wounding the driver and a passenger. Maynulet said he then shot dead the driver to put him out of his misery.
"He was in a state I didn't think was dignified. I had to put him out of his misery," Maynulet said in his defense according to U.S. military's Stars and Stripes magazine.
The jury was shown footage of the shooting filmed by a U.S. surveillance drone.
The mercy killing argument was used by the defense in the cases of two U.S. soldiers who were convicted in December and January of murdering an Iraqi.
The man suffered severe abdominal wounds and burns when U.S. troops attacked a rubbish truck they suspected guerrillas were using.
Staff Sergeant Johnny Horne was sentenced to three years in jail and Staff Sergeant Cardenas Alban to one year over the Iraqi's death.
Local Iraqis said the men on the truck were innocent rubbish collectors.
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I really feel ashamed on this one.
At least they did not throw the book at him. God Bless this man and all the military!
It really is a shame. Hope he finds decent employment after this incident. As for the 'victim,' it is too bad that Judge Greer wasn't there to order a two-week death by starvation and dehydration. That would have been so much more humane.
Was this the sentence that you think he deserves that is if you feel he was guilty to begin with.
Do you think they showed mercy to him?
If you have not had the chance to follow this story as much as you would have liked, I have added the following links to threads I have posted on this soldier and his plight.
Military Court Convicts U.S. Soldier For Iraqi Man's 'Mercy Killing' - Capt. Rogelio Maynulet
Maynulet enters not guilty plea in 'mercy killing' trial (maximum sentence of 20 years)
Trial set for captain accused of killing badly-injured Iraqi - Capt. Maynulet (murder vs mercy)
Sandy Berger probably got off easier than this guy ...
I second that. I bet he gets a lot of job offers.
This sounds like a fair result. He did what he did, so he was guilty. However, in the sentencing the cirumstances were taken into account--so no jail, no fine; simply dismissal from the Army.
It was a ki8lling. There was no mercy by the Floriduh! courts.
It's difficult to believe that we have people in our government so stupid that they waste time and resources prosecuting a soldier for putting a presumed enemy out of his misery.
This PC crap harms our men and women in uniform in ways that will haunt us all.
He did nothing wrong, and sometimes the system simply needs to find it's scapegoats. PC is absolutely out of control.
I am confident that he will do well, in time. I know that if I were him right now however, I'd be seriously pissed off!
Can you please keep the Schiavo comments contained to those threads?
Amen.
I agree with you FMC. This kind of stuff is just going to hamstring our troops. You just cannot apply the same conduct standards of civilian life to a battle zone.
Excellent point. He's a West Pointer, too. We National Guard types know all about the Club.
I'm glad he's not going to do hard time. I was afraid he'd be the sacrificial lamb and get the book thrown at him. No doubt some libs will complain (but then, they'd complain no matter what, wouldn't they, just because it's what they do...).
Well said. (sarcasm) I'm sure the Iraqis were really "rubbish collectors" (/sarcasm). Unless, of course, it's the kind of rubbish that explodes and kills US troops. :P
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