SAN ANTONIO — Lawyers for a US Army major accused of a deadly 2009 shooting spree at a Texas military post have asked for the death penalty to be disallowed in his court martial, possibly paving the way for a guilty plea in the case. Fort Hood massacre suspect Major Nidal Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder in connection with the rampage at the sprawling Central Texas Army facility. A three-day pre-trial hearing due to begin on Wednesday will include discussions on a defense request to remove the death penalty in the case, according to a written agenda for the hearing. A guilty plea is not allowed if the death penalty is a possibility, and one item on the court docket refers to discussion of part of the military justice code involving guilty pleas in capital cases. Hasan is accused of opening fire on a group of soldiers who were going through processing before being deployed to Afghanistan. He was shot four times by two civilian Fort Hood police officers, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. Military commanders, shortly after Hasan was charged, gave prosecutors the right to seek the death penalty if he is convicted, a significant step given that the United States has not executed anyone under the Uniform Code of Military Justice since 1961. The top US military appellate court ruled last month that the judge who had been presiding over the case, Colonel Gregory Gross, was not impartial and ordered him removed, also setting aside an order that Hasan's beard be forcibly shaved. Hasan's lawyer, Lieutenant Colonel Kris Poppe, is also requesting that he receive the services of a media analyst at taxpayer expense to press a claim that Hasan has been the victim of unfair media coverage. The delays in Hasan's court martial have frustrated survivors of the shooting. Attorneys for both sides spent much of 2012 arguing over whether Hasan could keep his beard, which he says he grew due to his Islamic faith. — Reuters
