Military Judge Fines Hasan for Contempt

FORT HOOD, Texas, July 26, 2012 – A military judge here ruled that an Army psychiatrist accused in a November 2009 shooting rampage here is in contempt for his failure to comply with an order to appear in court clean-shaven and within Army grooming standards.

In an Article 39A hearing, Army Col. Gregory Gross fined Maj. Nidal Hasan $1,000, the maximum fine the court could impose under the court-martial contempt statute.

Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder during a shooting spree at a deployment processing center here.

After the contempt hearing, Hasan refused to voluntarily shave and watched the remainder of the hearing outside the courtroom via a close-circuit television feed. Gross informed him that if he did not voluntarily shave, he likely would compel a shaving so Hasan could attend forthcoming court-martial hearings in person.

The remainder of yesterday's hearing focused on discovery and expert matters. Gross said he would review for relevancy an unredacted copy of a recently released report to the FBI's director on the shooting incident. The judge also requested an update on whether the Senate maintained any notes or summaries of interviews the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs may have taken or made in support of its report on the shooting.

Gross also deferred ruling on whether the defense should have access to military investigations taught in a class at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., and he took under advisement and deferred ruling on defense-requested experts in religious conversion and social science methodology.

The judge also authorized further government funding for already appointed defense experts in jury selection and mitigation and found that federal district courts have exclusive jurisdiction over matters raised under 50 U.S. Code Section 1806. He also said he would sign an order transferring any such matter to the federal district court in Waco, Texas.