US Army officer guilty of voluntary manslaughter

US Army tank company commander was tried in a Germany military court on charges related to the shooting and killing of a wounded Iraqi last year. The panel will reconvene later Thursday to consider his sentence. The charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Capt. Rogelio “Roger” Maynulet, a 30-year-old from Chicago, stood at attention as the Lt. Col. Laurence Mixon, the head of the six-member panel, read the verdict at the court-martial.

Mixon did not give reasons for the ruling, which followed 2½ hours of deliberations.

Maynulet told a military court in Germany he killed the unarmed man “to put him out of his misery,” adding that it was “honorable.” He maintained throughout his trial that he shot the man to end his suffering.

But the military court in Germany found him guilty of assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter. The panel will reconvene later Thursday to consider Maynulet’s sentence. The charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

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

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.

Maynulet’s patrol wounded the man when it fired on a car during a search for militiamen south of Baghdad last May. Maynulet maintains the man was too badly injured to survive. He fired two more times.

Prosecutors said he violated rules of engagement. But Maynulet said he had more important priorities on the mission than saving the Iraqi man.

Military surveillance video apparently shows the U.S. soldier shooting a wounded Iraqi.

The shaky footage from a spy drone shows military Humvees chasing a car in a city south of Baghdad. After the car crashes, the camera zooms in on a man lying on the ground, waving one arm. The outline of a soldier in battle gear can then be seen aiming a weapon at the man, followed by a flash.

In closing arguments earlier Thursday, prosecutor Maj. John Rothwell said that Maynulet ‘’played God'’ when he shot the wounded driver.

He argued that Maynulet, who was trained in first aid, should not have relied on a medic who said the man was beyond saving and told him ‘’there’s nothing I can do.'’

‘’Those five words were enough to make a life and death decision, and he chose to end a life,'’ Rothwell said. ‘’This combat-trained life saver prescribed two bullets. He didn’t call his superiors for guidance, didn’t consult with his medic.'’

Maynulet said at this week’s court-martial that he shot the man to ‘’put him out of his misery.'’ His lawyers have argued that his actions were in line with the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war.

His defense attorney, Capt. Will Helixon, argued that conflicting testimony from neurosurgeons about whether the Iraqi was still alive at the time of the shooting required that Maynulet be acquitted.

Maynulet’s command was suspended May 25, but he has remained with the Wiesbaden-based unit.

The U.S. military has referred to the Iraqi driver only as an ‘’unidentified paramilitary member'’ and has not named al-Sadr directly instead referring to a ‘’high- profile target'’ but relatives named the driver as Karim Hassan, 36, and said he worked for al-Sadr.