Death penalty still in play for Hasan

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Army psychiatrist charged in the worst mass shooting on a U.S. military installation still faces the death penalty if convicted, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The military judge was expected to rule later on Maj. Nidal Hasan's request to plead guilty to 13 counts of premeditated murder in the 2009 attack on the Army post, Fort Hood in Texas.

• Courtroom sketches from Hasan's Dec. 18 hearing

Army rules prohibit a judge from accepting a guilty plea in a death penalty case, so the ruling Wednesday indicates Hasan would not be allowed to plead guilty as long as that punishment option remains on the table.

Witnesses have said that a gunman wearing an Army combat uniform opened fire after shouting "Allahu Akbar!" — or "God is great!" in Arabic — inside a crowded medical building on Nov. 5, 2009, where deploying and returning soldiers received vaccines and other tests. Hasan was also about to deploy to Afghanistan.
Hasan, 42, is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by police the day of the rampage.

The American-born Muslim also is charged with 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He faces execution or life in military prison without parole if convicted. A trial date has not been set.

Defense attorneys argued that Hasan should be spared a possible death sentence because the military justice system's process for deciding capital cases is inconsistent. They also claim Fort Hood's commanding general was not impartial when he decided in July 2011 that Hasan would face the death penalty and had been influenced by high-ranking government officials.

Hasan's trial was to start in August but was put on hold when he appealed the former judge's order saying his beard would be forcibly shaved before the court-martial unless he shaved it. Although facial hair violates Army rules, Hasan first showed up in court in June with a beard, later saying it was required by his Muslim faith.

The military's highest appeals court in December tossed out the judge's order and removed him from the case, saying that he appeared to show bias against Hasan in some instances. The new judge was appointed.

In December, during Osborn's first pretrial hearing in the case, the judge told Hasan that she won't hold the beard against him but that military jurors might. Jurors likely would be told not to consider Hasan's appearance when deciding on a verdict.