Image: U.S. Army/flickr
A military judge on Wednesday rejected a defense counsel’s arguments over whether Major Nidal Hasan, who is due to stand trial for the 2009 killing of 13 people at the army base in Fort Hood, Texas, could face the death penalty if found guilty.
More than three years after Hasan, an Army psychiatrist allegedly carried out the worst shooting ever at a U.S. military base, defense lawyers last week asked the court to set aside the possibility of the death penalty against him.
Hasan is accused of firing more than 200 rounds from his semi-automatic pistol before he was shot and wounded, ending the shooting spree that killed 13 soldiers and wounded 32 people.
Hasan, 42, was left paralyzed from the chest down.
Source: Jim Forsyth and Don Bolding for Reuters
