The Army has decided not to award Purple Hearts to the dead and wounded in that incident. The victims of the mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas
That has families, and some lawmakers outraged.
CNN Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence looked in to this.
By Jennifer Rizzo
A military appeals court has removed the judge who had been overseeing accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan’s court-martial, saying the judge was biased.
The ruling makes Col. Gregory Gross’ order for Hasan’s beard to be shaved invalid. Hasan has objected to the order with various appeals, citing religious freedom.
“We order the removal of the military judge on the basis of the appearance of bias,” the court document states.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces faulted Gross with allowing the proceedings to become a “duel of wills” between him and Hasan rather than focusing on the serious crimes with which Hasan is charged.
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, has been charged with 13 counts of murder in connection with the November 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood, the sprawling Army post in central Texas.
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By Jennifer Rizzo
The U.S. government has asked a military appeals court to deny accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan's request to keep a beard he has grown and to reject his bid to have the judge overseeing his court martial removed from the case.
Army regulations prevent most soldiers from wearing facial hair while in uniform. Hasan, a practicing Muslim, maintains he has the right to wear the beard under federal law protecting religious rights.
Involuntarily shaving a person is "not a novel concept" and is within the court's rights, the Appellate Government Counsel of the Judge Advocate General's office wrote in a brief for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Hasan did not prove that wearing his beard was "based on a sincerely held religious belief," the filing said.
The brief also raised the concern that Hasan's decision to grow a beard was to make it difficult for witnesses to identify him, calling the timing "questionable."
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By Mike Mount
Survivors and family members of the Fort Hood shootings released a video last week demanding the U.S. government designate the massacre as an act of terrorism rather than a case of a murderous rampage.
Such a designation would give the victims an enhanced series of benefits as if they were wounded in combat, according to the group.
The video includes victims and witnesses to the shootings on November 5, 2009. While much of the video uses victims to recount their experiences during the shooting, some complain that charging Maj. Nidal Hasan with murder does not reinforce what the actual incident turned out to be, an act of terrorism, they say.
One victim, who was shot in the chest, says, "They (Fort Hood victims) were killed and wounded by a domestic enemy, somebody who was there that day to kill soldiers, to prevent them from deploying," according to Army Staff Sgt. Shawn Manning in the video. "If that's not an act of war or an act of terrorism, I don't know what is."
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By Larry Shaughnessy
The US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) Monday issued another stay in the court martial of Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged with 13 counts of murder and other counts in connection with the 2009 massacre at Fort Hood, the sprawling Army post in central Texas.
The move comes after defense attorneys lost an appeal last week that upheld the trial judge's order that Hasan appear in court clean shaven.
Hasan's attorneys have told the CAAF that they intend to appeal last week's ruling.
Until that appeal is resolved the court martial trial remains on hold.
Hasan is accused of opening fire at Fort Hood's processing center, where soldiers were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq, in November 2009. The solo attack left 32 people wounded, in addition to the 13 killed, while Hasan himself was paralyzed from the waist down after police officers exchanged fire with him.
By Jennifer Rizzo
A military appeals court decided Thursday that accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan can be forcibly shaved, despite his assertion that his religion requires he wear a beard.
Siding with the judge overseeing the trial, Col. Gregory Gross, the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not allow Hasan to wear a beard during his upcoming court martial, as Hasan did not prove his beard was an expression of a sincerely held religious belief.
"We agree with the military judge's conclusion that petitioner's wearing of the beard denigrates the dignity, order, and decorum of the court-martial and is disruptive under the current posture of the case," the decision says.
Even if Hasan did wear the beard out of a sincere religious belief, the decision found that "compelling" government interests justified the judge's order for Hasan to be shaved.
By Larry Shaughnessy
Col. Gregory Gross, the judge who will oversee the military trial of Maj. Nidal Hasan, ordered the Army psychiatrist to be forcibly shaved for his trial, according to Tyler Broadway, a spokesman at Fort Hood.
The order is likely to trigger an appeal that would further delay the case, which has dragged on now since 2009.
Hasan's attorney had filed an appeal when Gross threatened to order the shaving but the appeals court said it wouldn't issue a decision until the shaving was actually ordered. Thursday's order by Gross opens the door for that appeal.
The last time he was in court, Hasan told the judge, "Your honor, in the name of almighty Allah, I am a Muslim. I believe that my religion requires me to wear a beard."
Gross has said the beard violates Army regulations and Hasan is still an officer in the U.S. Army and subject to regulations.
Hasan's court-martial had been scheduled to start last month at Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas, where he is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32.
His lawyers can now go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, an independent tribunal with worldwide jurisdiction over active-duty members of the U.S. armed forces and others subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The District of Columbia-based court is made up of five civilian judges appointed for 15-year terms by the president. Decisions of the court are subject to direct appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Such an appeals process could delay Hasan's criminal trial for months if not years.
CNN's Bill Mears contributed to this report
By Jennifer Rizzo
The Army psychiatrist accused of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting told the military judge his Muslim faith requires him to wear a beard, marking the first time Maj. Nidal Hasan has made a statement in court, according to his lawyer.
"Your honor, in the name of almighty Allah, I am a Muslim," Hasan said. "I believe that my religion requires me to wear a beard."
Hasan made the statement after the presiding judge, Col. Gregory Gross, asked why he was still in contempt of court - in other words, why Hasan hadn't shaved his beard, which is against Army regulations.
"I am not trying to disrespect your authority as a military a judge. And I am not trying to disrupt the proceedings or the decorum of the court," he said. "When I stand before God I am individually responsible for my actions."
Gross has threatened to have Hasan forcibly shaved, previously citing the regulations and the right to ensure "that a military trial proceeds without a distracting and disruptive sideshow."
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By Jennifer Rizzo
The trial of Maj. Nidal Hasan can move forward amid a dispute about the beard the Army psychiatrist grew while awaiting trial in the 2009 Fort Hood killings, an appeals court has ruled.
Hasan's court martial was to start last week at Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas, where he is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32, but was delayed when Hasan's legal team petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals to prevent the military judge from ordering Hasan's facial hair forcibly shaved. The presiding judge, Col. Gregory Gross, had threatened to order the shaving unless Hasan got rid of the beard, which is against Army regulations.
The Court of Appeals found that Hasan's petition was "premature" because Gross has not yet issued a definitive order. If an official order was given, the appeals court said, Hasan could file another petition.
The government contends it is within its right to order Hasan shaved, citing military regulations and the right to ensure "that a military trial proceeds without a distracting and disruptive sideshow."
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By Jennifer Rizzo
The government has asked an appeals court to allow the trial against Maj. Nidal Hasan to move forward after a stay was issued last week amid a dispute about the beard the Army psychiatrist grew while awaiting trial in the 2009 Fort Hood killings.
Hasan's court-martial had been scheduled to start this past Monday at Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas, where he is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32. The presiding judge, Col. Gregory Gross, had threatened to order him forcibly shaved unless he got rid of the beard, which is against Army regulations.
The government's response to the stay ordered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces cited those regulations and stated the judge's actions are the "least restrictive" means to ensure "that a military trial proceeds without a distracting and disruptive sideshow."
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