Tag: Fort Hood
Posted on Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 08:37:14 PM EST
Tags: Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood (all tags)
The military will seek the death penalty against Maj. Nidal Hasan, the suspect in the Fort Hood killings.
The Army's intent to seek the death penalty in the Hasan case will likely set off years of legal wrangling. No active-duty troops have been executed in nearly 50 years, and defendants in military death-penalty cases can appeal their convictions in a series of military and civilian courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Even if a ruling is fully upheld, the president has to personally approve an order to carry out the execution, further slowing the process, according to Eugene R. Fidell, an expert on the military justice system at Yale Law School.
Another waste of resources. Or maybe it's just a bargaining chip to get Hasan to forego an insanity defense and plead guilty, accepting life in the brig as a sentence.
(14 comments) Permalink :: Comments
