By Don Bolding
FORT HOOD, Texas, July 16 (Reuters) – Jury selection was
completed on Tuesday for the military murder trial of an Army
Major accused of killing 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas in
2009, the biggest non-combat massacre on a U.S. base.
Military judge Colonel Tara Osborn said on Tuesday that
three more members of the jury had been confirmed after 10 U.S.
Army officers were chosen last week for the court martial of
Major Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist. Opening statements are
scheduled to begin no earlier than Aug. 6.
Hasan has said he opened fire on Nov. 5, 2009 to protect
Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan from aggression by the
United States. He was shot by civilian base police during the
attack and is paralyzed from the chest down.
Fort Hood was a major deployment point for the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan. At the time of the shooting Hasan, an
American-born Muslim, was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan
with a unit assigned to help soldiers deal with mental health
issues.
Witnesses say Hasan shouted in Arabic “God is greatest”
while firing the gun. He has told the court he spends hours
reading the Koran in his cell every day.
Hasan faces the death penalty if convicted of killing the
soldiers and wounding 32 other people when he opened fire at a
Fort Hood facility where soldiers prepare for deployments.
The 13 jurors, all of whom are of superior rank to Hasan,
will be asked to decide if he is guilty of premeditated murder
and premeditated attempted murder. They must be unanimous to
impose a death sentence. The last court martial execution in the
United States was in 1961.
Hasan could also be sentenced to life without parole, or be
found guilty on lesser charges.
The Army has not released the names of the jurors who
include 10 colonels, two lieutenant colonels and a major.
The case has been delayed several times by unusual turns
including arguments over whether Hasan could keep a beard
against Army regulations and whether he could represent himself
in the court martial. He is representing himself.
Hasan has been allowed to wear the beard, which he said he
grew for religious reasons, and in court is wearing a combat
camouflage uniform, rather than a dress uniform, for medical
reasons.
(Writing by David Bailey; Editing by Greg McCune and Grant
McCool)
