FORT HOOD — A running dispute over a beard grown by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan that has delayed his murder trial took a step toward resolution when a military judge ordered him Thursday to get rid of it or have it shaved by force.
Col. Gregory Gross previously had vowed to issue the order, but an appeals court kicked the case back to him to hear further arguments that pitted competing versions of why the one-time Army psychiatrist grew the beard — and whether the Constitution's protection of religious freedom allowed him to keep it.
Hasan, 41, who's charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a Nov. 9, 2009, shooting spree at Fort Hood, said he grew the beard because of his Muslim faith.
Defense lawyer Lt. Col. Kris Poppe contended in an hourlong hearing that Hasan's religious beliefs drove his decision to grow the beard.
A prosecutor, Maj. Larry Downend, said Hasan wore it to show allegiance to Islamic militants and make it harder for eyewitnesses to identify him.
The judge ultimately ruled the government had “a compelling interest” in shaving the beard, saying: “I am ordering the accused to be clean-shaven for all subsequent pretrial hearings and the trial.”
The ruling effectively puts the trial on hold. Two military appeals courts likely will hear arguments, and attorneys familiar with the case say a federal court could step in as well before the matter is settled.
Hasan, who first appeared in court June 8 with the beard but was clean-shaven the day of the shootings, has been fined $6,000 for violating Army regulations that strictly limit facial hair to moustaches and sideburns. The trial was to begin Aug. 20.
Attorneys for Hasan have said in a motion that he “is a practicing Muslim and has recently had a premonition that his death is imminent. He does not wish to die without a beard as he believes not having a beard is a sin.”