Captain Robert Semrau leaves his military tribunal with his wife Amelie Lapierre-Semrau in Gatineau, Quebec July 19, 2010.CHRIS WATTIE
It's now up to a military judge to decide if Capt. Robert Semrau gets busted down in rank with a hard slap on the wrist, or gets booted from the Canadian Forces and thrown in jail.
Lt.-Col. Jean-Guy Perron will take until Sept. 9 to mull arguments by both the prosecution and defence before delivering a sentence.
Military prosecutors say Capt. Semrau should be dismissed in disgrace from the Canadian Forces and spend two years, less a day, in jail for shooting an unarmed and badly wounded enemy fighter in Afghanistan .
But Capt. Semrau's lawyer says a reduction in rank and a severe reprimand are more fitting punishments.
Capt. Semrau was convicted last week of disgraceful conduct in the shooting and a military court is hearing final arguments on sentencing.
Prosecutor Lt.-Col. Mario Leveillee said Capt. Semrau let the Canadian Forces down when he fired two rounds into an insurgent who had been strafed by a U.S. gunship helicopter.
Lt.-Col. Leveillee questioned whether the public would feel differently had Capt. Semrau shot a grievously wounded Canadian soldier in an act of mercy, or if an insurgent had done the same for a Canadian soldier.
"Only Capt. Semrau knows what his motivation was," Lt.-Col. Leveillee said.
"But whatever his motivations, it was a shockingly inappropriate choice."
Lt.-Col. Leveillee raised the spectre of the Somalia affair of the 1990s, saying all it takes is an act like Capt. Semrau's to bring back memories of Canadian soldiers beating a Somali teen to death.
Capt. Semrau's conviction carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and dismissal from the military.
He was also charged with second-degree and attempted murder, but the court martial panel found him not guilty of those charges as well as not guilty on a Defence Act charge of negligent performance of a military duty.
Over the four-month trial, which included time in Afghanistan, the court heard from a dozen witnesses. The testimony included descriptions of what Capt. Semrau was alleged to have said in the moments after he fired two rounds in the direction of a badly wounded insurgent.
The man had been strafed by a U.S. helicopter gunship and witnesses described devastating injuries, including a severed leg and a gaping hole in his abdomen.
At the time of the 2006 shooting, the 36-year-old soldier was part of a team of Canadian soldiers assigned to the Afghanistan National Army as mentors.