Medic at court martial admits lying
By Carlos Sadovi
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 29, 2005, 1:35 PM CST
WIESBADEN, Germany -- An Army medic who advised his commanding officer that an Iraqi man was mortally wounded last year—leading the officer to allegedly shoot the man as a mercy killing—admitted today that he did not treat the Iraqi because he panicked at the sight of his wounds.
Sgt. Thomas Cassady, who continued his testimony on the second day of a court-martial hearing for Capt. Roger Maynulet of Chicago, also admitted lying at least 27 times to superior officers and perjuring himself in a previous military court hearing to protect Maynulet.
"I didn't think the case would go this far," Cassady said before admitting he froze and failed to treat the injured man. "I was out of it. I spazzed out."
Cassady, 30, also admitted to the six-member jury of ranking Army officers that he had received immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony. He could have faced a military prison sentence had he been tried and convicted of perjury.
A medic for six years, Cassady served under Maynulet's command in Iraq. The two men were with a group of soldiers who chased down and fired on a sedan in Kufa, a town south of Baghdad on May 21, 2004. The car crashed in a residential area.
The driver of the car, Karim Hassan Abed Ali al-Haleji, was wounded. Maynulet shot al-Haleji as he lay on the ground in a mercy killing after Cassady told him the Iraqi would not survive, Maynulet's lawyers contend.
An Army unmanned aerial vehicle flying overhead caught the action on video. The recording has been played for the jury during the last two days of the court-martial.
Prosecutors have alleged Maynulet broke military law forbidding the killing of people outside of combat, even for mercy killings.
Maynulet is charged with assault with intent to murder. He faces 20 years in military prison if convicted. The captain originally had been charged with murder, but the charges were reduced after an Article 32 hearing—the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing—that concluded in December.
Cassady admitted lying to the court in that hearing when he testified under oath that the wounded Iraqi sustained two gunshot wounds to his head while he was being chased.
Under prompting from Maynulet's lawyers, Cassady said Maynulet told him to medically treat the man as the captain and other soldiers scrambled into nearby homes and courtyards looking for insurgents who had fled from the car.
Throwing his head back, Cassady demonstrated from the stand how the man's breathing resembled a loud snore. The medic admitted he spent "roughly a minute" before making his determination the man would not survive more than 20 minutes.
Cassady, who had served four years with the Marine Corps before enlisting in the Army, said the Iraqi man was the first wounded person he had treated, and he froze.
After prompting from Capt. Will Helixon, Maynulet's chief defense lawyer, Cassady admitted his lies stemmed from his guilt at not treating the man and for causing the chain of events that led to the man's death.
Helixon pointed out that Cassady could have faced at least one year in prison for not treating a wounded man and more years for the other crimes.
"Sgt. Cassady, you risked all of this because you knew the reason Capt. Maynulet acted was based on your failure to do your job," Helixon said. "Capt. Maynulet trusted you as the senior line medic … There's no reason why he shouldn't have 100 percent faith in you."
"Yes sir," Cassady said. "I was spazzed out."
But before resting the prosecution's case, Capt. Dan Sennott, the lead prosecutor, said that as the commanding officer in the mission, responsibility for its outcome fell on Maynulet's shoulders.
Before being deployed to Iraq, soldiers are trained in proper military procedure and provided with rules of engagement cards they are required to carry. Among other things, the rules forbid soldiers from killing to ease suffering, said Sgt. Robert Braudis, who also was on the mission.
While witnesses including Cassady said the car never fired at Maynulet's Humvee, Maynulet's lawyers contend that they were on a classified mission to stop a "high-valued target."
Sources have told the Tribune that Maynulet was to stop a car supposedly carrying rebel cleric Moqtada Sadr and another loyalist. Sadr was responsible for insurgent activity in the area at the time. During the trial, al-Haleji was called a paramilitary insurgent, a claim the man's family has denied in the past.
As the defense began its case today, it put on six officers and even the defendant's former elementary school principal from Queen of All Saints School, where he attended classes in the Sauganash neighborhood on Chicago's Northwest Side. The witnesses praised Maynulet's abilities and character.
As part of a court martial, the jury places considerable weight on a soldier's overall conduct and measure as a person, an Army spokesman said.
Witnesses said Maynulet was a top-notch military officer who was cool under pressure and who they would follow back into combat.
The defense also submitted written testimony from two men who had worked with Maynulet. Saudi Al Airaqchi Muhammed and Maj. Yehay Haider of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corp. both praised Maynulet's 15-month stint in Iraq before the shooting ended his stay.
"He made it easier to work with the American people," Helixon said as he read Haider's testimony.
Muhammed credited Maynulet with helping him set up local neighborhood councils and local elections to fill those posts.
"He treated the Iraqi people as if he were an Iraqi, with great compassion. You would see Capt. Maynulet patrolling day and night, protecting the Iraqi people," Helixon said as he read Muhammed's words.
Col. Bradley May, who served as Maynulet's senior supervisor and who is being assigned to the Joint Chief of Staffs in April, called the defendant one of his top three officers out of the more than 40 under his command.
In written testimony, May told the jury that while he did not approve of violating military law, the officers sitting in judgment should consider all the evidence.
"Look at all the facts, because there may be some that makes it not as easy to determine as we would all like," Helixon said, reading May's testimony.
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