Market Commentary and Intraday News

US Military Judge Fines Fort Hood Shooter For Contempt

301 days ago

(RTTNews) - A US military judge held Maj. Nidal Hasan, an army psychiatrist accused in the deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood base in Texas in November 2009, in contempt of court for his failure to comply with an order to appear in court clean-shaven and within the army grooming standards,the US Defense Department said in a statement Thursday.

In an Article 39A hearing held Wednesday, the judge, Army Col. Gregory Gross, fined Maj. Hasan $1,000, which incidentally is the maximum fine the court could impose under the court-martial contempt statute.

The 41-year-old Army psychiatrist is accused of shooting dead 13 people and wounding 32 others during the November 5, 2009 rampage before being shot and disarmed by police. The bullet injuries has left him partially paralyzed.

Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of pre-meditated murder and another 32 for attempted pre-meditated murder. He faces possible death penalty if convicted in the shooting.

After Wednesday's contempt hearing, Hasan refused to voluntarily shave and watched the remainder of the hearing outside the courtroom via close-circuit television. Gross then informed Hasan that he could be forcibly shaved if he does not shave voluntarily for his trial.

The military judge said he wanted Hasan to be present in the courtroom for the upcoming hearings to prevent a possible appeal on the issue if he is convicted. The remainder of the hearing, which focused on discovery and expert matters, progressed without further incidents.

Later, Gross said he wanted to review a copy of a new FBI report on the shootings, which was made public only last week. The reports includes e-mails sent by Hasan to Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Islamic cleric who was killed in a US drone strike in Yemen last year.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2012 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved

View all of today's news »