The world's first weblog devoted to military justice and military law issues.

Friday, April 01, 2005

BREAKING NEWS: CPT MAYNULET SENTENCED; NO JAIL TIME 
From the AP (via the Boston Globe):
A decorated Army captain convicted in the shooting death of a wounded Iraqi was dismissed from the military Friday, but will serve no time in prison after insisting at his court-martial that the shooting was a mercy killing.

A relieved Capt. Rogelio ''Roger'' Maynulet, 30, threw his arms around his attorneys, wife and parents after the military court spared him a prison sentence. Prosecutors had sought a three-year term along with the dismissal.

Maynulet could have faced 10 years in prison after being convicted Thursday of assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter. He maintained throughout the trial that he acted to end the suffering of a man he was told was beyond medical help.

Maynulet said after the sentence that he was grateful to avoid imprisonment, but that having to leave the military would be difficult.

''It's bittersweet,'' he said. ''I'm happy to have my life back, but I'm being forced out of my family. It's hard to leave the Army this way.''

''Still, I'm definitely happy I'm not in confinement,'' he said.
Posted by: Centrist / 19:43 (Cosmos) |