Major Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood Shooting Suspect, Wants Trial Delayed

FORT HOOD, Texas — A military judge on Tuesday said he would consider postponing until October the trial of the Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly Fort Hood shooting rampage.

Maj. Nidal Hasan's attorneys asked that the trial be delayed from June until October, saying they needed more time to review the large volumes of evidence in the case. The judge, Col. Gregory Gross, previously delayed the court-martial from March until June. It's unclear when he will decide on the defense's second request for a postponement.

Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He faces the death penalty if convicted in the November 2009 shootings on the Texas Army post.

Gross on Tuesday denied a defense motion seeking a Defense Initiated Victim Outreach specialist, Fort Hood officials said. The new program aims to help the defense respond to the needs of survivors and victims' families and possibly change their attitudes if they support the death penalty.

Gross also denied a defense request to force prosecutors to provide notes from meetings and conversations with President Barack Obama, the defense secretary and other high-ranking government officials after the Nov. 5, 2009, shootings. Defense attorneys have said they want to determine if anything was discussed that may have unlawfully influenced Hasan's chain of command to prosecute him.

Prosecutors have insisted no Army officers involved in the case have been influenced by higher ranking officials.

Last week, Gross denied a defense request to remove the death penalty as a punishment option if Hasan is convicted.

The 41-year-old Hasan remains jailed. He is paralyzed from the waist down, the result of being shot by police to end the rampage.

Earlier on HuffPost:

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Comments

[lenny0861]

02:36 PM on 06/06/2012

he did it he knows he did it i know he did it you know he did it Kill him now slowly America is dumbe when it comes to this JUST KILL HIM slow put in on tv , show if you do a crime this is what you will get. Do not feed him 3 times a day give him tv room and board medical Screw him and all terrorist People I hope they all die

[dons net]

11:57 AM on 05/22/2012

With all these delays, He will have plenty of time to shop for his own ROPE.. Why not Waterboard him everyday,since its not TORTURE...?

[bbrady2222]

11:27 PM on 05/02/2012

Be sure he is fed pork and wrapped before he is shot with bullets dipped in pigs blood. No allah no virgins oh previous comments are correct, ovimit will pardon his muslim buddy.

[bbrady2222]

05:38 PM on 04/14/2012

Time to fire all the muslims trying to ruin our country. starting at the top, wh muslim

[tallen]

03:17 PM on 04/14/2012

1. Sudden Jihad Syndrome
The tendency among supposedly Westernized Muslims living in the United States to unexpectedly lash out violently in an act of self-initiated (and usually small scale) Islamic terrorism.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sudden%20jihad%20syndrome

[smlyttle]

12:10 PM on 04/13/2012

Ya know a part of me says he deserves the death penalty, the rest says he gets a maximum security life sentence and suffers in a chair with little to no rights the rest of his days so he is denied his 'righteous' death and has to stew in a cell for however long he lives. Not sure which would be better.

[Johnsteed]

08:29 AM on 04/11/2012

Obama Govt call this attack .workplace violence ?? not a terrorist attack ?

[Be Real]

08:07 PM on 04/11/2012

So why isn't he being convicted after all this time? This is crazy when we know he killed 13 people, yet Zimmerman just got arrested and is going to get a swift trial. What is wrong with the justice department?

[Be Real]

08:47 PM on 04/11/2012

So, Zimmerman will have a speedy trial and Hasan has sat there for 3 years? Way to go justice department!

[goairforce]

04:06 PM on 04/12/2012

FYI, the Justice Department does not have jurisdiction over this case. The Army does.

[tiernanlaw]

10:51 AM on 04/22/2012

Hey Genius, it has be Hassan's Lawyers Asking for the delays, his right to a speedy trial has been available, HIS LAWYERS chose not to avail themselves to it.

[kerryandjanie]

02:15 AM on 04/11/2012

Just a reminder: Remember the Terrorist who was kidnapping construction workers building for the military, torturing them, I think beheading them and then hanging their bodies (with or without heads, I don't remember) from a bridge? The military sent three SEALs to capture him alive, preferably. The SEALs caught him, no wounds and this guy had the brass to file a complaint that one of the SEALs had punched him during the capture. They dropped charges of being accomplices on two but court martialed the SEAL accused of hitting the Terrorist while trying to capture him alive. He was found not guilty, but this was BS. They should have killed him while capturing him and he couldn't have claimed foul.

[perldog007]

10:34 PM on 04/22/2012

They were contractors, but not construction workers AFAIK. Blackwater empolyees if I'm not mistaken. There is a double standard, the same administration that told us not to "rush to judgement" on Nidal theoretically could have a son that looks like Trayvon Martin. Many of us including me have sons that DHS called potential terrorists in the April 2009 memo. It's pure partisan politics kids. Both sides do it and it's up to us to speak through the male bovine feces. All of us.

[IndependentRule]

10:53 PM on 04/10/2012

They should have had him investogated before the event but this politically correct society is now causing death of our own.

[TXanimal]

03:11 PM on 04/12/2012

All military personnel are subject to extensive periodic background checks, and participate in psychological evaluations prior to and following deployments.

What are you suggesting, exactly?

[North Shore Chicago Mike]

10:22 PM on 04/10/2012

I've had a long history as a law and order type and advocate of capital punishment, but there have been too many convictions in which subsequent evidence (like that pesky/can't be denied DNA) brings the truth to light and freedom to those wrongly adjudged. Hence, I've come to reject the death penalty and prefer a life sentence without the possibility of parole for those who commit heinous crimes. Without question, this case tests my resolve and causes me second guess my conversion to the "soft side". In this instance though, the crime is unimaginable and beyond evil - likewise, the reported evidence is undeniable and overwhelming. Without any question he is the perpetrator, but this process should and must follow the letter of the law. If found guilty, I'll concede that the crime justifies those who demand an eye for an eye. At the same time, if you can believe what is reported by the media (perhaps a leap of faith in the current environment), the Army brass was aware of his extremist threats (dare I call it an Islamic jihad) and yet did little if anything about it. Mind you, that does not diminish the magnitude of the crime, nor the punishment due Hasan. But the military did nothing to safeguard the soldiers around him. Court martial proceedings should be filed against all who were aware of this time bomb, but sat on the sidelines and kept silent.

[kerryandjanie]

02:02 AM on 04/11/2012

I completely agree with you, except for horrendous crimes convicted without even an unreasonable doubt, like the two who tortured, raped, burned to death the woman and two daughters, 11 and 19, after forcing her to go to the bank, while they held her daughters and everyone, including the two murderers, thought her doctor husband was dead. He wasn't and he survived, (he was downstairs near the front door when he was injured and left for dead and he came to) and crawled out screaming for help. His wife and daughters had been tied to their beds and the little girl had been raped and then had gasoline poured over her legs & torso and the bed and burned to death alive. The police caught the two men running out the front door with their loot and the house on fire. I'd say that type of no any kind of doubt merits the death penalty. Assets of all the high-rank military who knew and did nothing should be distributed among the survivors as well as the families of those Hasan murdered. All of Hasan's assets should also be distributed, as he gets a lawyer provided by the military and won't need his wealth when he's dead.

[rewith85man]

09:12 PM on 04/10/2012

If a suspect is telling the judge and or other people of the law what he wants and if they agree, then shame on them.

It is unfair that a criminal/fugitive seems to get more respect than good citizens/victims do.

[ssf1183]

02:42 AM on 04/11/2012

Is it respect or just Officers being PC to protect their careers? Can I say they are Chick*** Sh*t on here?

[vtmilitia]

08:22 PM on 04/10/2012

Review large volumes of evidence? WTF! There was a whole room full of eyewitnesses. Execute him with flintlocks,there is a nice delay after the flint strikes the frizzen before the charge ignites.

[castiniron]

07:57 PM on 04/10/2012

When the white house decides this muslim should go to trial, it will happen - don't be surprised if the potus pardons him on his way out the door. The system at the moment is very muslim friendly due to the man in the white house and nobody is jumping up and down screaming about it. If we can convict an American that kills innocent Afgans - why can't we convict a Muslim that kills innocent American Soldiers on AMERICAN SOIL?? Point your finger to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the answer.

[ssf1183]

08:43 PM on 04/10/2012

Obama will get around to it sooner or later, don't you know he's busy campaigning right now.

[castiniron]

09:31 PM on 04/10/2012

yes and only if his stratigists determine if it's in the potus politcal favor to do something about it.

[tombartho]

07:12 PM on 04/10/2012

All of his 13 victims would have liked their deaths delayed but he didn't show them that consideration. Show him the same consideration he showed them and start the trial tomorrow.

[bbrady2222]

09:38 PM on 04/13/2012

Hasan should be wrapped in a pig skin and shot. The wh will pardon this sob muslim, a**holes of a feather flock together.

[autonimous]

06:46 PM on 04/10/2012

They never should have let him live to go into captivity.