Fort Hood Shooting

[Box]

...its hard to retreat from Afghanistan while claiming victory, if we are actively dealing with Al-Qaeda within our own ranks.


I don't know how some politicians can breath with their heads so deeply buried in their own ass.

[JHD]

Originally Posted by Pete

Fort Hood Judge Bans Evidence of Shooter's 'Jihadi' Motives

http://news.yahoo.com/fort-hood-judg...opstories.html

"Lawyers representing the family members of those killed and injured in the Ft. Hood shooting rampage were outraged today when an Army judge limited prosecutors from introducing evidence, including emails to a known Al Qaeda operative, that would establish accused shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan's "jihadi" motives.

The judge's rulings could inhibit the ability of the victims' families to claim in a civil suit that the shootings were an act of terror. Federal lawyers involved in the civil suit claim that the people shot during Hasan's murderous rage were victims of workplace violence, a designation that could sharply limit the damages in a civil suit......."

Just workplace violence.

Wonder what that does to proving motive, which I am not sure they have to do here. But still, motive is important in first degree murder.

[craigepo]

Originally Posted by JHD

Wonder what that does to proving motive, which I am not sure they have to do here. But still, motive is important in first degree murder.

It looks like the judge is playing the evidence safe, which is a pretty smart move. Often, when a judge starts making rulings like this, it's because the case is getting lopsided and the judge doesn't want to have to try the case twice.

From what I have noticed, the defendant has already admitted that the evidence will show that he did the shooting. As he carried the gun into the building, premeditation is proven. There has been a ton of eyewitness evidence; stated differently, this case is already done. There is no need to bring in "old" evidence and give the defendant a "prior bad act" issue to appeal.

From what I can tell, under the UCMJ, either premeditated murder or felony murder(a killing that occurs during the commission of a separate felony) can be death penalty verdicts.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/.../mcm/bl118.htm

It seems like this judge is being very conservative. She is right to keep out the prior stuff until the sentencing phase of the trial.

[JHD]

Originally Posted by craigepo

It looks like the judge is playing the evidence safe, which is a pretty smart move. Often, when a judge starts making rulings like this, it's because the case is getting lopsided and the judge doesn't want to have to try the case twice.

From what I have noticed, the defendant has already admitted that the evidence will show that he did the shooting. As he carried the gun into the building, premeditation is proven. There has been a ton of eyewitness evidence; stated differently, this case is already done. There is no need to bring in "old" evidence and give the defendant a "prior bad act" issue to appeal.

From what I can tell, under the UCMJ, either premeditated murder or felony murder(a killing that occurs during the commission of a separate felony) can be death penalty verdicts.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/.../mcm/bl118.htm

It seems like this judge is being very conservative. She is right to keep out the prior stuff until the sentencing phase of the trial.

Good to know. So it sounds like, if convicted, her keeping it out shouldn't prevent him from getting the death penalty either.

[ddoering]

Jihadi evidence doesn't fit into the workplace violence official stance. It could also possibly give him combattant status though being in a US uniform at the time of the act would still allow for execution.

[JimP]

This guy will NEVER get the needle. The Army hasn't executed anyone since 1961. We don't have the balls - as an institution - to put this rabid dog down.

[MiTTMedic]

http://http://www.kens5.com/news/Maj...220838971.html

[98G]

The link from MTTMedic didn't work for me, so...


Nidal Hasan convicted of Fort Hood killings

By Billy Kenber, Friday, August 23, 1:52

Nidal Malik Hasan faces a possible death sentence after being found guilty Friday of killing 13 people and wounding dozens more when he opened fire at Fort Hood army post in Texas in November 2009.

Hasan, 42, a U.S.-born Muslim who acted as his own attorney, was convicted of 13 charges of premeditated murder and 32 of attempted murder by a panel of senior officers. The case will now move to the sentencing phase, during which further witnesses may be called and Hasan could testify before a punishment is handed down.

Hasan, who was paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair after being shot by an Army civilian police officer while being apprehended, admitted responsibility for the shooting at the start of the trial, saying he had “switched sides.”

Aside from a very brief opening statement and a few questions of prosecution witnesses, the military psychiatrist has shown little interest in mounting a defense. Hasan, who was prohibited by military law from entering a guilty plea, declined to call any witnesses, testify himself or give a closing argument.

At a pre-trial hearing, the judge, Col. Tara Osborn, ruled that Hasan could not defend himself by arguing that he carried out the killings to protect Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.

Instead, the defendant chose to make his case to the public through a series of communiques and authorized leaks to newspapers, arguing that he was waging jihad because of the U.S.’s ”illegal and immoral aggression against Muslims” in Iraq and Afghanistan. In another document, it emerged he had told a mental health panel that “if I died by lethal injection I would still be a martyr.”

During the court martial, Osborn refused a request by Hasan’s three standby lawyers to limit their role because they believed the defendant was deliberately trying to secure a death sentence.

Experts said that in spite of Hasan’s apparent desire to be executed it will be years before a potential death sentence could be carried out.

Under the military’s justice system, there are several automatic appeal stages during which attorneys will likely be appointed to represent Hasan, regardless of the defendant’s own wishes.

After a sentence is handed down, the court’s records and findings will have to be reviewed and signed off by a military official known as the convening authority.

The case will then enter the appellate phase, going before the appeals courts for the Army and the armed forces. The case can be appealed to the Supreme Court. Finally, the president must sign off on the death sentence. The last time an active-duty soldier was executed was in 1961.

Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School, said he expected the appeals process to take several years. “It’s most likely to be the next president that’s going to have to make the final decision,” he said.

Greg Rinckey, a former U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps attorney, said the appeals courts were highly unlikely to allow Hasan to represent himself and that his appointed attorney could lodge a number of challenges.

“Part of defense strategy in this case will be delays...[and] I think they’re going to file mental health issues, whether he had the capacity to stand trial, ineffective assistance of counsel,” Rinckey said.

The two-and-a-half-week long military trial took place almost four years after the mass shooting because of repeated legal delays, with Hasan twice dismissing his legal team and there was also protracted argument before he won the right to keep his beard.

During hearings, held at a courtroom just a few miles from the site of the shooting on the sprawling Texas military post, the defendant declined the opportunity to cross-examine some of his victims.

Hasan had been due to deploy to Afghanistan within a few weeks of the attack and prosecution attorneys set out evidence of his meticulous planning. The psychiatrist chose the most high-tech, high-capacity weapon available at a gun store in Killeen and trained himself at a local firing range before giving away some of his belongings on the day of the shooting.

Shortly after 1 p.m. on November 5, 2009, Hasan walked into Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center with two guns, shouted “Allahu akbar!” meaning “God is great,” and opened fire, the court heard.

His victims were almost all soldiers who were waiting for blood testing. The sole civilian who was killed was shot as he attempted to tackle Hasan with a chair, according to testimony.

The case will now enter the sentencing phase during which the prosecution and defense can present evidence on the impact of the crime and any mitigating circumstances. Three-quarters of the military jury must vote to approve a jail term of more than 10 years, with a unanimous decision required for the death penalty.

[SF18C]

When is the execution and will it be open to the public???

May he rot in hell!

[PRB]

I hope it is life without parole...he will be seen by other Islamists as a Shaheed if sentenced to die, he wants to die at our hands so as to die for Islam.
Let him slowly rot in prison in his wheel chair.
Living, in his case, is more painful than death.

[glebo]

Originally Posted by PRB

I hope it is life without parole...he will be seen by other Islamists as a Shaheed if sentenced to die, he wants to die at our hands so as to die for Islam.
Let him slowly rot in prison in his wheel chair.
Living, in his case, is more painful than death.

That is true, deny him what he craves...martyrdom. His status won't be as "revered" in his muslim world....

[tonyz]

Time for bacon for breakfast, ham sandwiches for lunch and pork chops for dinner...for the rest of his warped, pathetic, treasonous life.

If he complains, unwrap that diaper and fire up that sex change procedure that these recent scumbags seem to crave.

[craigepo]

Originally Posted by PRB

I hope it is life without parole...he will be seen by other Islamists as a Shaheed if sentenced to die, he wants to die at our hands so as to die for Islam.
Let him slowly rot in prison in his wheel chair.
Living, in his case, is more painful than death.

Is there any elevated status for a Muslim spending life in prison, who winds up being the cell block's girlfriend?

[Oldrotorhead]

Originally Posted by craigepo

Is there any elevated status for a Muslim spending life in prison, who winds up being the cell block's girlfriend?

Man date Thursday every day.

[Gypsy]

Finally, after all these years some good news.

May you rot in prison for the rest of your miserable life you SOB.