U.S. Soldier Convicted in Court-Martial

03/31/2005

WIESBADEN, Germany (AP) - A military court on Thursday found a U.S. Army tank company commander guilty of charges related to the shooting death of a wounded Iraqi last year.

Capt. Rogelio “Roger” Maynulet, a 30-year-old from Chicago, stood at attention as the verdict was read. The charge - assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter - carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The court was to reconvene later Thursday to consider Maynulet’s sentence.

Prosecutors had sought a conviction on a more serious charge of assault with intent to commit murder, which carries a 20-year maximum.

Prosecutors said Maynulet violated military rules of engagement by shooting a man who was wounded and unarmed. Maynulet, 30, maintained that the man was gravely wounded and that he shot him to end his suffering.

Maynulet’s 1st Armored Division tank company had been on patrol near Kufa on May 21, 2004, when it was alerted to a car thought to be carrying a driver for radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and another militiaman loyal to the Shiite cleric.

The U.S. troops chased the vehicle and fired at it, wounding both the passenger, who fled and was later apprehended, and the driver. The killing was filmed by a U.S. drone surveillance aircraft.