Apr. 1, 2005 – A US military jury in Germany yesterday found Captain Rogelio Maynulet guilty on reduced charges connected to his killing of a severely wounded Iraqi civilian.
Maynulet stood accused of murder for killing Karim Hassan, a driver for Shi’ite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr. According to witnesses, Maynulet fatally shot Hassan on May 21 near Kufa, in South Central Iraq. Hassan was reportedly driving a speeding car that Maynulet believed to be carrying members of Al-Sadr’s Mehdi militia. Capt. Maynulet’s unit pursued the car and fired shots that wounded both Hassan and a passenger.
Maynulet then approached the vehicle and fired two bullets into Hassan's brain. He later claimed he killed Hassan out of mercy.
Rather than finding Maynulet guilty of the more serious charge of assault with intent to commit murder, which could carry a twenty-year sentence, the jury opted for assault with intent to commit manslaughter, which bears half the penalty. Maynulet was the first American soldier charged with murdering an Iraqi during the US occupation of that country.
