Clearing the Fog of War

Bearded Hasan meets new judge

FORT HOOD – A one-time Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 in a rampage here more than three years ago was back in court Tuesday for the first time in months.

As Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan rolled into the small post courtroom in a wheelchair, a beard that had launched a volley of appeals and put his capital murder trial on hold was longer and thicker than on Sept. 6, the last time he was here.

All eyes were on his new judge, Col. Tara Abbey Osborn, making her first appearance in the case since an appeals court handed her the job.

Would she order him to shave the beard, as his last judge had?

She waited until the end of a 53-minute hearing to address the subject.

“I see that you are wearing a beard against Army uniform regulations,” Osborn told Hasan. “Is that a voluntary choice?”

It was, he replied.

“I'm not going to hold that against you, but some people on the panel may hold that against you,” she continued.

The beard issue wasn't decided, though it appeared he might be able to wear it. The matter may come up at a hearing next month, after Osborn reviews documents, transcripts and motions.

Previously posted at Fort Bragg, N.C., she replaced Col. Gregory Gross, who had feuded over the beard with Hasan for months and was booted as the judge by the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

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Appeals court tosses Hasan's judge

A Washington, D.C. appeals court today ordered the removal of the military judge in the trial of an Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in a 2009 Fort Hood shooting spree.

The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, hearing a long-disputed order requiring Maj. Nidal Hasan to shave a beard he grew in violation of Army regulations, found that the judge, Col. Gregory Gross, had displayed an “appearance of bias” in the case.

The court, in an opinion released late in the afternoon, ruled that “a reasonable person, knowing all the relevant facts, would harbor doubts about the military judge's impartiality.”

It threw out six contempt citations Gross had issued, but did not rule on whether Hasan had to shave.

“Should the next military judge find it necessary to address (Hasan's) beard, such issues should be addressed and litigated anew,” the court said in its opinion.

Hasan faces the death penalty for the Nov. 5, 2009 rampage that left 13 dead and 32 others wounded. He grew a beard last summer, prompting Gross to fine him $1,000 on six occasions.

Hasan said he grew the beard because of his Muslim faith. His lead defense attorney, Lt. Col. Kris Poppe, contended in a Sept. 6 hearing that Hasan's religious beliefs drove his decision to grow the beard.

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