‘Mercy killing’ US soldier dismissed

A US Army tank company commander convicted of shooting dead a wounded Iraqi, walked free from court on yesterday, although he was dismissed from the army for what he called a “mercy killing.”

Army captain Rogelio Maynulet had faced 10 years in jail after a court- martial at a US 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 has a maximum 20-year sentence.

The shooting occurred last May when US troops were pursuing suspected supporters of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr near the Iraqi city of Najaf.

US soldiers fired on a car, wounding the driver and a passenger. Maynulet said he then shot dead the driver. “He was in a state I didn’t think was dignified. I had to put him out of his misery,” Maynulet said.

Local Iraqis said the men on the truck were innocent rubbish collectors.