Another delay ordered in Fort Hood shooting case

FORT HOOD, Texas — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces on Monday ordered another delay in proceedings against Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan..

The military court issued the stay after Hasan's lawyers served notice last week that they planned on appealing the recent decision that their client before forced to shave his beard when he stands trial in the 2009 mass shooting on Fort Hood.

Last week, the Army appeals court upheld the ruling by the judge presiding over the court martial that Hasan would be shaved by force if he did not do so voluntarily.

The the higher appeals court did not state how long the stay would remain in place, only saying that Hasan’s motion for a stay “is hereby granted pending further order of the Court.”

Hasan, 42, says he grew a beard because his Muslim faith requires it, despite an Army ban on beards. Gross has said Hasan's facial hair is a disruption and that defense attorneys have not proven that he is growing it for sincere religious reasons.

The Army psychiatrist the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted in the November 2009 shootings that killed 13 people and wounded more than two dozen others at the Texas Army post, about 125 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

The Court of appeals of the Armed Forces sits in Washington, D.C., and serves as the highest-level appellate court for the U.S. military.

The court provides civilian oversight of the military justice system and reviews appellate decisions from appellate courts for the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard.

Five civilian judges usually make up the court.