Nidal Hasan Found GUILTY Of All 13 Counts Of Premeditated Murder For Shootings At Fort Hood

Yes Wrap and serving as his own defense counsel he will be allowed to questions those witnesses.
IMO it adds further insult to his U.S. Military and Civilian victims.

He could be the first active-duty U.S. soldier to face the death penalty in a half-century. The last time the military executed one of its own was 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was convicted and hanged for the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl while stationed in Austria, said Marine Corps Col. Dwight Sullivan, an Air Force appellate defense counsel who has studied military executions. The Navy carried out its last execution in 1849, and the Marine Corps has not executed a Marine since 1817, he said.

I hope the Military's reluctance to hand out a death sentence ends with Hasan. Taxpayers should not be made to foot the bill insuring this man proper medical care for the rest of his natural life.


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July 10, 2013

FORT HOOD, Texas –  Allowed to zero in on individual potential jurors on the second day of jury selection, the Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly Fort Hood shooting rampage asked pointed questions about religion and used several opportunities Wednesday to declare his support for the Taliban and a fellow American-born Muslim who killed a U.S. soldier.

Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is serving as his own attorney in his military murder trial, participated as nine of the remaining 14 Army officers in the group were questioned individually. Four more potential jurors were dismissed, leaving 10 — but some of those could be dismissed later. A new group of six will be questioned when jury selection continues Monday.

On Tuesday, six from the first group of 20 potential jurors were dismissed after all were questioned by the judge and prosecutors, but not by Hasan.

Hasan, 42, faces execution or life without parole if convicted in the rampage that left 13 dead and nearly three dozen wounded on the Texas Army post on Nov. 5, 2009.

Hasan told one colonel that Abdulhakim Muhammad, sentenced to life in prison for the June 2009 fatal shooting of a soldier outside a Little Rock, Ark., military recruiting station, was his "brother and friend." Muhammad, who converted to Islam in college, has told The Associated Press that the shootings were an act of war on the U.S.

In answering Hasan's questions based on jury questionnaires they filled out about a year ago, several potential jurors said they had negative views of Muslims, the Quran or Shariah, the Islamic legal and religious code. But they said they could put aside those views and only consider evidence in the case — including a colonel asked by Hasan if "the fact that I do believe the Quran justifies killing" would prevent him from being a fair juror.

The military judge, Col. Tara Osborn, told Hasan several times to rephrase his questions and avoid mentioning his beliefs and referring to himself as the shooter, saying he is acting as an attorney during jury selection. She reminded him that he was not testifying.

Osborn has denied his "defense of others" strategy, which must show that killing was necessary to prevent the immediate harm or death of others. The judge has barred him from telling jurors that he shot U.S. troops because he believed they were an imminent threat to Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.

Another colonel told a prosecutor Wednesday he didn't understand questions about whether he had formed an opinion on whether Hasan is guilty.

"He sits here in a wheelchair because of wounds he sustained on that particular day," said the colonel, one of the four later dismissed. "In terms of 13 victims and who the shooter was, I have an opinion that Maj. Hasan was the individual who pulled the trigger."

Hasan is paralyzed from the abdomen down after being shot by police the day of the rampage.

A 13- to 16-member jury — with ranks equal to or higher than Hasan's — will be chosen for his court-martial. Death-penalty cases in the military require at least 12 jury members, more than in other cases. And unlike other trials, their verdict must be unanimous in finding guilt or assessing a sentence.  

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This is just not right. Hasan should not even be allowed to talk to potential jurors, much less try to influence them. This has dragged on for way too long.

16 Jul 2013

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FORT HOOD, Texas (KXAN) — The U.S. government and Army Maj. Nidal Hasan have selected a jury of 13 panel members for the trial of the man accused of killing 13 in a 2009 shooting rampage on the military post.
Judge Tara Osburn has also locked in Aug. 6 as the day opening statements will begin.
Jury selection was expected to last between two and three weeks, but the panel of the minimum required 13 members has already been chosen.
The 42-year-old Hasan, who was paralyzed from returned gunfire on the day of the shootings, is acting as his own lawyer.
A unanimous decision of at least 12 panel members is necessary to reach a verdict in the trial, but between 13- and 16 Army officers were expected to be seated on the panel due to the possibility some will have to leave the trial to fulfill military service.
Potential panel members were brought to Fort Hood in groups of 20 to undergo general questioning as a group and individual questioning.
Hasan is allowed to wear the beard he grew for religious reasons. Potential jurors were told by the judge not to hold it against him, even though facial hair violates Army rules.
Last week, Hasan pressed each potential member on their views of Islam and the death penalty during individual questioning.
The government struck down multiple potential jurors after they expressed opposing views to the death penalty.
On Monday, both sides conducted general questioning to the second group of 20.

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August 06, 2013

The trial of the Fort Hood gunman, who is acting as his own attorney, took a surreal turn as the former Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 in the November 2009 attack grilled witnesses -- including his former boss in the military and a fellow Muslim who spoke to him the day of the shooting.

After a short opening statement in which ex-Army Maj. Nidal Hasan called himself a "mujahedeen," admitted to the rampage and said "the dead bodies will show that war is an ugly thing," Hasan cross-examined prosecution witnesses, including retired Lt. Col Ben Kirk Phillips, his former boss. When pressed by the defendant, Phillips acknowledged that his officer evaluation report had graded Hasan as "outstanding."

But he declined to cross-examine one of his shooting victims, Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, who provided the day’s most damning testimony.

Lunsford – who was shot seven times during the incident – described what happened that day, saying he first saw Hasan sitting in a chair, with his arms on his knees while looking at the floor.

He said Hasan then jumped up and ordered the one civilian in the room to leave before shouting, “Allahu akbar” and opening fire. Panic set in among the soldiers, who crowded toward a rear door, which was jammed.
Lunsford said he sprinted for the door at one point while Hasan was shooting, then turned around to see the gunman’s laser sight pointing at him before being shot in the head. Lunsford testified he tried to appear dead, then later decided to flee because, "dead men don't sweat."
He then made another sprint for the door as he was shot six more times before being pulled to safety.

Earlier, Hasan cross-examined Pat Sonti, who met Hasan at the Killeen Islamic Center in Fort Hood the morning of the shooting. Sonti said Hasan took the microphone at the mosque and called for prayer.

“After call to prayer, he bid goodbye and told the congregation he was going home," Sonti said. "I found that odd.”

Hasan asked Sonti to describe the difference between the call for prayer and actual prayer, then asked who is supposed to lead the call.

"Whoever the imam looks at," replied Sonti. "But you know that, sir."

It was not clear how the 42-year-old Hasan plans to fashion his stance into a defense. Hasan had wanted to argue that he shot U.S. troops to protect Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, but the judge forbade the American-born Muslim and former Army psychiatrist from using that defense. Three witnesses took the stand after opening arguments, including the manager of the store Guns Galore, where Hasan had purchased the Glock 27 model 5.7 handgun used in the attack.

"Almost every trip I can remember was always [for] ammunition and magazines, extensions and at one point an additional laser,” David Cheadle testified.

Another store employee, Frederick Brannan, who sold the weapon to Hasan, said he saw the shooter in the store almost every week where he would buy up to 300 rounds of ammo each time.

"The sheer quantity of ammo being shot was expensive," Brannan said on the stand adding that he purchased magazine extensions and and a green laser sight that cost $350.

Henricks told the military jury Hasan picked the date of the attack for a specific reason, though he did not immediately reveal details.

The trial is expected to take weeks and possibly months. Taking the witness stand will be many of the more than 30 people who were wounded, plus dozens of others who were inside the post's Soldier Readiness Processing Center, where some service members were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.

Hasan has never denied carrying out the attack, and the facts of the case are mostly settled. But questions abound about how the trial will play out. How will Hasan question his victims? How will victims respond? How will his health hold up?

The defendant, who was shot in the back by officers responding to the attack, is now paralyzed from the waist down and must use a wheelchair. He requires 15- to 20-minute stretching breaks about every four hours, and he has to lift himself off his wheelchair for about a minute every half hour to avoid developing sores.

The judge, Col. Tara Osborn, told jurors to prepare for a trial that could last several months.

On Tuesday, guards stood watch with long assault rifles outside the courthouse. A long row of shipping freight containers, stacked three high, created a fence around the building, which was almost entirely hidden by 15-foot-tall stacks of heavy, shock-absorbing barriers that extend to the roof line.

The government has said that Hasan, a U.S.-born Muslim, had sent more than a dozen emails starting in December 2008 to Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical U.S.-born Islamic cleric killed by a drone strike in Yemen in 2011.

Authorities in the military justice system have also struggled to avoid reversed sentences on appeal. Eleven of the 16 death sentences handed down by military juries in the last 30 years have been overturned, according to an academic study and court records.

That's one reason why prosecutors and the military judge have been careful leading up to trial, said Geoffrey Corn, a professor at the South Texas College of Law and a former military lawyer. "The public looks and says, `This is an obviously guilty defendant. What's so hard about this?"' Corn said. "What seems so simple is, in fact, relatively complicated."

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FGS, this is a NO Brainer..There were Tons of witnesses. MOO.

Aug 7, 2013


Major Hasan faces 13 charges of premeditated murder and 32 of premeditated attempted murder

Self-styled “soldier of Allah” Major Nidal Hasan, 42, who is representing himself in his trial at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, was said to be “effectively working in concert with the prosecution to achieve the death sentence”. I certainly hope he gets his wish!!!
His own court-appointed standby counsel, whose job is to advise Major Hasan on legal matters, made a statement to the judge explaining that a capital sentence was the defendant’s “trial goal.”
Lt Col Kris Poppe, speaking on the second day of the case, said that was “repugnant” to him as a defence lawyer, and it was “contrary to his professional obligations” to help Major Hasan die.
He asked not be required to do so, offering to withdraw if necessary, or to take on full responsibility for the defence which would allow him to fight the death penalty.
On the opening day Major Hasan had made a brief statement in which he said “I am the shooter,” and that the evidence would show he carried out the massacre of soldiers at Fort Hood on Nov 5, 2009.

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Aug 7, 2013

Day Two of the court martial of Maj. Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 people and wounding 30 more in a 2009 shooting spree, began with a rift between Hasan and his stand-by counsel that resulted in court being adjourned for the day early Wednesday.

Hasan previously dismissed his defense team and has chosen to represent himself, but the court ordered a group of defense attorneys led by Lt. Col. Kris Poppe to act as "stand-by" counsel to help Hasan through the procedural steps of the trial.

In a motion filed late Tuesday, Poppe and his team said they feel Hasan is trying to purposely get the death penalty and asked the judge, Col. Tara Osborn, to not force them to be part of that effort. Poppe, addressing Osborn on Wednesday, said it became clear that Hasan is seeking the death penalty for himself after hearing the accused opening statement and cross examination of witnesses.

"Assisting him in achieving the goal of moving closer to the death penalty is something a defense trial attorney should not be forced to do," Poppe said.

But Hasan objected to the defense team's assertions.

"That's a twist of the facts," he said, later adding: "It's inaccurate and I'd like to clarify that."

Osborn paused for a few minutes as she weighed the new development, then cleared the courtroom to discuss the motion privately with Hasan and lawyers from both sides. Osborn said court will reconvene Thursday morning.

Hasan, a radicalized Army psychiatrist, faces several counts of murder and attempted murder, accused of carrying out one of the deadliest gun attacks ever on a U.S. military base.

In his brief opening statement Tuesday, Hasan, who is representing himself, admitted to being the shooter and carrying out the attacks on behalf of the mujahideen, or holy warriors. An American-born Muslim, Hasan, 42, was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan a few weeks after the shooting.

Witnesses on Tuesday described the harrowing scene inside Building 42003 of the base's Soldier Readiness Center complex, when Hasan bellowed "Allahu akbar!" - "God is great" - and fired on unarmed soldiers using an FN 5.7 semiautomatic handgun.

Emptying and reloading high-capacity magazines, Hasan fired more than 200 rounds inside and outside the building, prosecutors said.

"He came to believe he had a jihad duty to kill as many soldiers as possible," said Col. Steve Henricks, the lead prosecutor.

If convicted, Hasan faces the death penalty and could be the first person in five decades that the military puts to death.

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I wish someone would but the taxpayers out of his misery now!

I wish they had just killed him when he took all these innocent lives. Wasting TX taxpayer money on this Piece of SHIT!

^^ Exactly! Couldn't agree more, Wrap.

August 19, 2013

Army Maj. Nidal Hasan challenged a witness's account of the police shootout that ended a rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead, a rare courtroom exchange from a man who has admitted to opening fire on soldiers deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq.

The exchange occurred after prosecution witness Sgt. Juan Alvarado testified to seeing Hasan shoot a police officer and then shoot her again while she was down.

Hasan is acting as his own attorney, defending himself against 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder in connection with the November 5, 2009, attack.

"I don't want to put words in your mouth. Are you saying that she was disarmed and that I continued to fire at her?" Hasan asked.

Alvarado responded: "Yes."

"I have no more questions," Hasan said.

For his part, Hasan has said little during the death penalty trial, other than to say he was the shooter.

But on Monday, Hasan appeared to be casting doubt on Alvarado's testimony that he shot a wounded, unarmed female police officer. The officer earlier testified that after Hasan shot her, he kicked her weapon out of her reach.

Hasan has left no doubt about his role, telling a panel of 13 officers during a brief opening statement: "The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter."

He's also left little question about why he did it, repeatedly saying before the trial started that he was acting to protect Taliban leaders in Afghanistan from the U.S. military.

While the military has avoided labeling Hasan a terrorist or charging him as such, prosecutors wanted to use the evidence to show that the devout Muslim had undergone a "progressive radicalization," going so far as to give academic presentations in defense of suicide bombings.

Hasan, who was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan, did not want to fight against other Muslims and believed "that he had a jihad duty to kill as many soldiers as possible," lead prosecutor Col. Michael Mulligan has said.

The judge, Col. Tara Osborn, excluded much of the evidence that the prosecution contends goes to the heart of the motive for the attack, including e-mail communications between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born cleric who officials say became a key member of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He was killed in U.S. drone strike in 2011.

Osborn ruled that the e-mails would have to be "redacted to prevent undue prejudice by association" and would diminish its use as evidence.

She also declined to allow prosecutors to use materials they maintain show Maj. Nidal Hasan's interest in the actions of Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar, the American soldier sentenced to death for killing two soldiers and wounding more than a dozen others at the start of the Iraq war -- an attack he said he carried out to stop soldiers from killing Muslims.

"The court believes Sgt. Akbar is not on trial in this case," Osborn said. "It would only open the door to a mini-trial" and confuse the issue.

Fort Hood victims feel betrayed

Along with the e-mails and the material related to Akbar, Osborn also declined to allow the use of Hasan's academic presentation on suicide bombings, saying "motive is not an element of the crime."

The judge did allow prosecutors to use evidence of Hasan's Internet searches on jihad and the Taliban in the days and hours before the attack.

Just two hours before the shooting, a search of Hasan's Acer netbook computer showed that someone had pulled up and read an article entitled "Pakistan Taliban Chief Urges Taliban to Fight Army," FBI Special Agent Charles Cox III, a computer forensics examiner, testified.

With the prosecution expected to rest as early as Tuesday, the big question is whether Hasan will take the stand.

Hasan, 42, has previously indicated that he intends to call himself and two witnesses to the stand. If he testifies, Hasan is expected to discuss the religious justification for his actions.

Much has been made about Hasan's defense or, as his stand-by attorneys have said, the lack of it, indicating he is perhaps more eager to prove he is a martyr than to avoid a death sentence.

Hasan refused to enter a plea at the outset of the court-martial after the judge barred him from pleading guilty. Under military law, defendants cannot enter guilty pleas in capital punishment cases.

The judge on Monday raised again concerns about Hasan acting as his own attorney after he admitted last week he did not understand that by listing someone as a witness he gave up the right of privileged communication with that person.

"Remember when I told you that I thought you would be better off with a trained lawyer?" Osborn asked.

Hasan responded: "Repeatedly."

"I've advised you before and I'm advising you again that it's not a good policy to represent yourself. ... Do you understand that?" Osborn said.

Hasan said: "Yes, I do."

Last week, Hasan released a portion of his mental health evaluation to The New York Times. It revealed he believes that being put to death would allow him to become a martyr.

"I'm paraplegic and could be in jail for the rest of my life. However, if I died by lethal injection I would still be a martyr," Hasan told a military panel evaluating whether he was fit to stand trial, according to documents published by the Times.

Hasan has been using a wheelchair since being shot by Fort Hood police. He is paralyzed from the chest down.

A U.S.-born citizen of Palestinian descent, Hasan was a licensed psychiatrist who joined the Army in 1997. But he had been telling his family since 2001 that he wanted to get out of the military, saying he had been taunted by people after the September 11 terror attacks that year.

In 2006, he inquired about the possibility of filing conscientious objector status. He did not go through with it, and the judge ruled that his inquiry could not be used by prosecutors to show motive.


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August 20, 2013

The prosecution rested its case Tuesday in the court-martial of Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people and injuring 31 others during a shooting spree here four years ago.

The court adjourned until Wednesday morning, prompting questions as to what defense – if any – Hasan has planned. It's the trial's 11th day.

"It's hard to imagine," said Victor Hansen, a law professor at New England Law Boston and former Army judge advocate. "I don't know that there could be much of a defense at this point."

Hasan, 42, who is representing himself, has admitted in earlier hearings and in his opening statement that he was the shooter in the on-base rampage Nov. 5, 2009, that left 12 soldiers and one civilian dead and injured nearly three dozen others. He faces the death penalty if convicted and could become the first person the U.S. military puts to death in five decades.

Hasan has said he does not plan to call any witnesses on his behalf but could take the stand himself. Judge Col. Tara Osborn reminded Hasan on Tuesday that if he calls himself to the stand, he'll need to ask himself questions in accordance with court rules, not just make statements. How weird is that? Have you ever asked yourself questions and then answered them? Prosecutors will also get the chance to cross-examine him in that scenario.

Among the prosecutions last witnesses was Maj. Anthony Bonfiglio, who testified that he met Hasan while both were psychiatry residents at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center around 2006. Hasan told him he was applying for a fellowship to avoid being deployed to America's conflicts abroad, Bonfiglio said.

Later, psychiatrist Tonya Kozminski testified that she met Hasan briefly while working at the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, where Hasan worked. A few weeks before the shooting, Hasan told her his displeasure at the prospect of being deployed overseas and offered a veiled threat if it were to happen, she said.

"They will pay," Hasan said, according to Kozminski.

Military prosecutors called 89 witnesses, many who painted a vivid and at times graphic picture of the shooting rampage in and around Building 42003 of the Soldiers Readiness Processing complex. Prosecutors also introduced reams of evidence ranging from bullet fragments pulled from victims to the FN 5.7 semiautomatic handgun used in the attack.

Hasan has remained mostly quiet during the proceedings, answering the judge with a brisk, polite "yes ma'am" or "I have no objections," and rarely cross-examining witnesses or challenging prosecution evidence. The trial has moved along much faster than expected due to Hasan's complacency in the proceedings.

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August 21, 2013

Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people during a 2009 shooting rampage in Fort Hood, Texas, rested his case Wednesday without calling any witnesses during his military trial.

Reuters reports:
"Hasan is acting as his own defense attorney on charges stemming from the shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas.
"On Tuesday, military prosecutors rested their case in the capital murder court-martial of Hasan, an American-born Muslim who has admitted in court to being the shooter, saying he switched sides in what he considered a U.S. war against Islam."

Hasan's trial has been fraught with drama. Back in July, there were rumors that Hasan wanted to plead guilty. Later in the summer, Hasan decided to represent himself. As the trial progressed, the attorneys assigned to assist him asked to be removed from the case because they were convinced Hasan was set on receiving the death penalty.

that closing arguments are set to begin "shortly," with Hasan expected to make a statement to the "military jury of 13 officers who will decide his fate."

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August 22, 2013

UPDATE: Hasan jury recesses for the day. The jury deliberated for about four hours this afternoon. It will resume deliberations at 9 a.m.

Fort Hood: The jury of 13 Army officers in the capital murder trial of Maj. Nidal Hasan have begun deliberations, nearly four years after the deadliest shooting on a U.S. military base.

Hasan, who rested his case Wednesday without giving testimony or calling witnesses, gave no statement Thursday to follow the prosecution's 91-minute closing argument.

“The defense chooses not to make a closing argument,” said Hasan, who is representing himself in a case that could end in the death penalty.

One of the prosecutors, Col. Steve Henricks, described how Hasan methodically planned an attack that turned a roughly 200-square-foot section of chairs where soldiers were sitting into “his personal kill zone” on Nov. 5, 2009.

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who was soon to deploy to Afghanistan, spent months preparing for a bloody rampage ultimately targeted at Station 13, where he knew that soldiers, including some in units he was to serve with overseas, would be tightly clustered.

“A station he made into his personal kill station,” Henricks said.

The jury heard a frantic 911 call that included the haunting moans of a dying Pfc. Michael Pearson, and saw a gruesome crime scene video and police dashboard video during the prosecution's closing remarks.

Even after killing 13 people and seriously wounding 31 others, Hasan kept “his wits about him,” leaving the Soldier Readiness Processing Center and “checking doors” of other buildings, looking for more soldiers to kill, Henricks said.

Hasan is charged with more than 40 counts of murder and premeditated murder.

The military judge, Col. Tara Osborn, did not include a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter in her instructions to the jury. But she told the panel it could consider unpremeditated murder in the 13 deaths, and aggravated assault in the non-fatal shootings.
The roughly 10-minute rampage ended with shots exchanged by Hasan and a Fort Hood policeman. Hasan was wounded, and is now paralyzed from the chest down. Todd was not hurt in the exchange.

Henricks said Hasan bought the high-tech pistol used in the shooting a few weeks after he arrived at Fort Hood in July 2009 and began buying large amounts of ammunition, using silhouette targets to hone his skills at making head and core body shots.

Hasan entered the processing center with his medical records, a “subterfuge,” after visiting the building in previous days, learning when troops from his unit would be at Station 13, before he yelled, “Allahu Akbar,” a common jihad cry, Henricks said.
“He yelled it because he knew what he was about to do,” he said. “He did that to announce to everyone in the room why he was doing what he was doing.”
Hasan then went on the rampage. In the building, he fired 146 of the 420 rounds he was carrying in multiple magazines with his FN 5-7 handgun. He also carried a .357 Magnum, “just in case he needs it,” Henricks said.
With red-and-green laser sights, and carrying a “kill load” — not a standard soldier's “combat load” — he dropped six magazines in the building, sometimes continuing to fire at soldiers as they fell to the floor, Henricks said.

While there's no doubt that Hasan was the gunman, the evidence shows he acted on a “premeditated design to kill as many soldiers as he could,” he told the jury.

Hasan remained characteristically silent, showing no emotion during Henricks' closing argument, stroking his thick, dark beard and at times leaning his head on his right hand.

Before sending the jury out, Osborn said a cot would be provided for Hasan to lie on while the panel deliberated. She said she would probably send jurors home rather than have them meet late into the night, if discussions run past 5 p.m. without a verdict.


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Supposedly he wants the death penalty because he feels that will still make him a "martyr." Hope they grant his wish.

        

Aug 23, 2013 
Jury in Fort Hood Shooting Trial Finds Maj. Nidal Hasan Guilty

Major Nidal Hasan, who Army prosecutors said was on a Jihad mission to kill soldiers, has been found guilty of all 13 counts of premeditated murder for the attack on U-S soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas in 2009.

The military jury also found Hasan guilty of 32 counts of premeditated attempted murder.

Both votes were unanimous by the military panel members in his court-martial hearing. 

Under military law, Maj. Hasan's conviction on at least two counts of premeditated murder makes him eligible for the death penalty.
In order for Hasan to face the death penalty, the jury's 11 men and two women had to find him unanimously guilty of at least one count of premeditated murder as well as another murder charge. The military court system hasn't executed an active-duty U.S. soldier since 1961.


The punishment phase of the court-martial hearing begins Monday at Fort Hood. Sixteen witnesses are expected to testify, including one family member from each of the 13 people Hasan killed on November 5, 2009.  Hasan will also be allowed to speak - unrestricted - during the next phase of the trial.

Military jurors resumed deliberations for almost 6 hours on Friday in the trial before returning with a unanimous verdict.
After the verdict was announced, Neal Sher and Reed Rubinstein, attorneys for many of the Fort Hood victims, released the following statement:
 
"Today's guilty verdict, rendered almost four years after the attack, is only a first, small step down the path of justice for the victims.

In light of this verdict, we again call on DOD and DOJ to stop their cynical "workplace violence" charade - a charade carried on despite Hasan's confessions and the mountain of evidence demonstrating that the attack was the work of an Islamic jihadist, working on behalf of al-Qaeda, who killed Americans for his "brothers" in the Middle East - and to stop denying the Fort Hood victims the Purple Hearts and medical and other benefits to which they are rightfully due.  We call on Congress and the Executive Branch to fairly compensate the Fort Hood terror victims, in all respects, as the 9/11 Pentagon attack victims were compensated.  And, we call on the government, finally, to accept responsibility for the harm done by its political correctness, spin and cover-up and to provide the victims and the American people with the truth, decency and accountability that they deserve.

The terrorist Hasan's conviction and sentencing is only the beginning, not the end of this story.  Justice for the victims of Fort Hood will be done only when the government admits its mistakes, keeps its promises to 'make the victims whole' and comes clean about Fort Hood.  The victims, and the American people, are owed nothing less."

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This Bastard needs to be put in front of a firing squad!!!

The terrorist Hasan's conviction and sentencing is only the beginning, not the end of this story. Justice for the victims of Fort Hood will be done only when the government admits its mistakes, keeps its promises to 'make the victims whole' and comes clean about Fort Hood. The victims, and the American people, are owed nothing less."
      

August 27, 2013

After weeks of mostly silence in his defense, convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan had little more to say Tuesday in the capital sentencing phase of his court-martial, telling the jury panel three short words: "The defense rests."

His brief remarks produced a momentary gasp in the courtroom. The 13-member panel that earlier convicted the defendant for premeditated murder will now return Wednesday morning, to decide whether the Army Medical Corps officer will live or die for his crimes.

The November 5, 2009, killings on this sprawling U.S. Army base by a lone gunman left 13 people dead and 32 others wounded, some severely.

Hasan, who serves as his own attorney, called no witnesses; nor did he offer any documentary evidence or explanation for why he should not die for his crimes. He also offered no explanation for his refusal to mount any defense in either the trial or sentencing phases. Judge Tara Osborn, an Army colonel, reluctantly granted his wishes, telling Hasan, "You're the captain of your own ship."

Tuesday morning saw the last of 19 victims and family members of those wounded or killed giving heartbreaking testimony: emotional recollections of lost loved ones, as well as injuries -- physical and emotional -- suffered nearly four years ago.

"The shooting and his killing is not going to destroy my family," said Joleen Cahill, widow of Michael Cahill, the only civilian to die in the massacre. "He is not going to win," she said firmly, referring to the defendant sitting just feet away.

Hasan asked no questions of the prosecution witnesses, who spoke separately on the stand. None directly addressed Hasan at the defense table or bothered to look at him while they testified. Hasan himself stared intently at all the witnesses during testimony, occasionally wiping his nose.

Three shooting victims, eight widows and widowers, six parents and an adult offspring were among those who fought tears to describe their physical and emotional suffering over the past two days.

Cahill recalled going numb when she was told about the killings. "A lot of that night was a blank."

Also testifying Tuesday was Jerri Krueger, mother of Sgt. Amy Krueger, who was 29 at the time of the incident. She recalled what her daughter said the day of the September 11 attacks: "She said, 'Mom, I'm joining the Army.' I told her she couldn't fight bin Laden all by herself, and she said, 'Watch me.' "

Krueger and her best friend enlisted the next day, and she had aspired to be a clinical psychologist.

"When a parent loses a child," said Jerri Krueger, "it creates an irreplaceable void. I live with that every day."

Hasan was convicted Friday of all 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting rampage at a Fort Hood deployment processing center. The incident occurred about a month before Hasan was to deploy to Afghanistan.

Wounded by two gunshots was Lt. Col. Randy Royer, a Reservist.

"I have mental issues; I take anxiety medication," he told the panel Tuesday. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and dealing with crowds is especially tough. Visiting the local pharmacy, where chairs line the counter, reminds him of the setup at the center where the killings occurred. "I don't do well with that," he said softly.

Prosecutors presented "aggravating" evidence to demonstrate why Hasan deserves lethal injection.

The court-martial unexpectedly recessed mid-afternoon Monday, and Hasan's standby attorney John Galligan told CNN that "health-related concerns promoted the delay."

From his wheelchair, the defendant, who was wounded by military police in the attacks and paralyzed, repeatedly asked the bench Monday to take brief breaks from the proceedings.

Among the victims' family members testifying Tuesday was Philip Warman, who was so distraught about losing his wife -- 55-year-old Lt. Col Juanita Warman -- that he testified that friends had to take his guns away for his own safety. And he abused alcohol almost constantly until the following June.

"I was falling apart," he testified. "It was like something was ripped from me."

Warman entered rehab and has not had a drink since. He earns Alcoholics Anonymous coins as reminders of his sobriety. He told the panel that he pushes the coins into the ground when he visits his wife's grave at Arlington National Cemetery.


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August 28, 2013

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was sentenced to death Wednesday for killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Tex., the worst mass murder at a military installation in U.S. history.

Dressed in Army fatigues, Hasan, who turns 43 next month, listened impassively as the death sentence was handed down by a panel of 13 senior military officers in a unanimous decision after less than two hours of deliberations. If even a single panel member had objected, Hasan would instead have been sentenced to life in prison. He also was stripped of pay and other financial benefits, which he continued to receive while in custody. I cannot believe they were still paying him a salary. Seriously he's been treated better than his victims this entire time. What a disgraceful crock of shit!!!!

No active-duty service member has been executed since 1961, and legal experts said it will probably be many years, if ever, before the sentence will be carried out. Hasan will be flown shortly to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he will join five other inmates on military death row, officials said.

In military cases, there are several mandatory appeal stages and a military death sentence requires final approval by the president, as commander in chief.

Despite the expected delays, survivors of the shooting welcomed the verdict. According to news reports, Kathy Platoni, an Army reservist, said: “From the bottom of my heart — he doesn’t deserve to live. I don’t know how long it takes for a death sentence to be carried out, but the world will be a better place without him.”

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was found guilty this month on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder after opening fire Nov. 5, 2009, at Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center, where troops were getting medical checkups before deploying to Afghanistan.

Hasan, who was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan a few weeks later, shouted “Allahu ­akbar!” meaning “God is great,” before targeting soldiers with a high-powered, high-capacity handgun he had fitted with laser sights. He was apprehended by military police officers after firing more than 200 shots.

Prosecutors aggressively pursued the death sentence during the 22-day court-martial this month, calling more than 100 witnesses, including 20 victims and relatives of the deceased to testify in a courtroom just a few miles from the site of the shooting.

During two days of evidence ahead of his sentencing, they described, in often emotional testimony, their grief and suffering.

Staff Sgt. Patrick Zeigler, who was shot four times and had more than 20 percent of his brain removed in surgery, told the court, “I was expected to either die or remain in a vegetative state.” He said that his personality has changed and that he is “a lot angrier, a lot darker than I used to be.”

The father of a pregnant 21-year-old private from Chicago, Francheska Velez, who was fatally shot as she pleaded for the life of her baby, testified in Spanish that Hasan had “killed me slowly.” Velez was one of three women killed in the shooting.

The court heard that Hasan had carefully planned his attack, training at a local firing range and researching jihad on his computer. The FBI and Defense Department have drawn criticism for failing to prevent the attack after missing a number of warning signs.

Hasan, an American-born Muslim, had exchanged e-mails with a leading al-Qaeda figure in which he asked whether those attacking fellow soldiers were martyrs. The e-mails were seen by the FBI. Hasan also once gave a presentation to Army doctors discussing Islam and suicide bombers and said Muslims should be allowed to leave the armed forces as conscientious objectors to avoid “adverse events.”

The psychiatrist, who acted as his own attorney, tried to plead guilty before the start of the trial but was unable to do so under military rules governing death penalty cases.

He called no witnesses, offered no testimony and declined to make any statements beyond a brief opening comment in which he took responsibility for the shooting and said he was a soldier who had decided to “switch sides” in what he believed was a U.S. war against Islam.

As a result, he faced accusations that he deliberately sought the death sentence.

But in a phone interview Wednesday, his former attorney denied that Hasan, who is paralyzed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair after being shot by military officers, had a death wish.

John P. Galligan, a civilian lawyer who regularly visits Hasan in jail, said his former client was denied the opportunity to defend himself when the judge barred him from arguing that he had carried out the mass shooting to save the lives of Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.

Galligan, who continues to provide legal assistance, denounced the proceedings as “almost a ludicrous show trial to secure a death penalty, even though they know it’s unlikely that it would be ever actually implemented.”

Galligan said the appeals would probably “go on for decades.”

“In all honesty, he stands a far more likely chance of dying from medical reasons than dying because he’s been sentenced to death,” he said.

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GOOD..just take him outside and line him up..I'll even provide the ammunition!!!!