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Beard may delay Fort Hood rampage suspect’s trial

An Army psychiatrist charged in the fatal 2009 shooting rampage in Texas may be barred from the courtroom because he grew a beard, which is contrary to military regulations

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The 2007 file photo provided by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) shows Nidal Malik Hasan when he undertook the Disaster and Military Psychiatry Fellowship program. Hasan faces the death penalty if convicted.

AP Photo/Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, File

Associated Press

FORT HOOD, Texas — A U.S. military judge will hear arguments Tuesday on whether to delay the trial of an Army psychiatrist charged in the fatal 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas — because the defendant grew a beard.

Maj. Nidal Hasan’s pre-trial hearing was postponed earlier this month because of the beard, which is contrary to Army regulations. The judge, Col. Gregory Gross, has said he will bar Hasan from the courtroom and force him to watch Tuesday’s proceedings through closed-circuit television if he is unshaven.

The 2009 attack killed 13 people and injured more than 30. Hasan is a U.S.-born Muslim, and his attorneys have said they will seek an exception to the Army’s rule based on his religious beliefs. Hasan has been clean-shaven in all other court appearances.

Gross is expected to consider several motions Tuesday, including whether to delay Hasan’s trial until December. The trial is scheduled for Aug. 20.

Hasan faces the death penalty if convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

Witnesses have said that on the morning of Nov. 5, 2009, a gunman wearing an Army combat uniform opened fire after shouting “Allahu Akbar!” — or “God is great!” in Arabic — in a Fort Hood medical building where deploying and returning soldiers received vaccines and other tests. Several witnesses identified the gunman as Hasan, who was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan the following month.

Hasan, 41, is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by police the day of the rampage. He remains jailed.

Fort Hood spokesman Chris Haug said Monday that post officials wouldn’t know until Tuesday whether Hasan had followed the judge’s order and shaved his beard. Fort Hood officials wouldn’t say whether Hasan would be charged if he shows up unshaven. One possible charge is failure to obey a lawful order or regulation, which carries a maximum two-year jail sentence.

Jeff Addicott, a former senior legal adviser to the Army’s Special Forces who isn’t involved in the case, said Hasan may be growing the beard with the hope of making a case that he is being persecuted for his faith.

“He’s going to play the religious card,” said Addicott, director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary’s University School of Law. “And this is his last card to play ... because no one believes he’s not going to be found guilty.”

Copyright 2012 Associated Press