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Judge Who Ordered Fort Hood Shooter’s Beard Be Forcibly Shaved Is Thrown Off the Case

Dec. 4, 2012 7:24am Billy Hallowell

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The military judge who ordered the Fort Hood shooting suspect’s beard to be forcibly shaved has been thrown off the case, but the ruling ends lengthy delays in the trial of the Army officer charged with the 2009 rampage that killed 13 people.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled Monday that Col. Gregory Gross did not appear impartial while presiding over the case of Maj. Nidal Hasan. Hasan faces the death penalty if convicted in the 2009 shootings on the Texas Army post that killed 13 people and wounded more than two dozen others.

Col. Gregory Gross Thrown Off of Nidal Hasans Case Over Beard Cutting Mandate

FILE – This undated photo provided by the Bell County Sheriff’s Department shows Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly 2009 Fort Hood shooting. Hasan has been hospitalized for undisclosed reasons, military officials said Monday, Sept. 24, 2012. A Fort Hood news release says he is in good condition after being admitted to the Texas Army post’s hospital Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012. Hasan was shot during the 2009 rampage and is paralyzed from the waist down. Credit: AP

The court said it was not ruling on whether the judge’s order violated Hasan’s religious rights. Hasan has argued that his beard is a requirement of his Muslim faith, although facial hair violates Army regulations.

“Should the next military judge find it necessary to address (Hasan’s) beard, such issues should be addressed and litigated anew,” judges wrote in the ruling.

Fort Hood officials said late Monday that proceedings in the case will resume after a new judge is appointed by the Army’s highest legal branch. That indicates Army prosecutors will not appeal Monday’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hasan appealed after Gross ordered that he must be clean-shaven or be forcibly shaved before his military trial, which had been set to begin three months ago. It has been on hold pending the appeals.

An Army appeals court upheld the shaving requirement in October. But Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces said the command, not the judge, is responsible for enforcing grooming standards.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Gross had repeatedly said Hasan’s beard was a disruption to the court proceedings, but the military appeals court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to show that was true.

Gross found Hasan in contempt of court at six previous pretrial hearings because he was not clean-shaven, then sent him to a nearby trailer to watch the proceedings on a closed-circuit television. The appeals court’s ruling also vacated the contempt of court convictions.

At a June hearing, lead defense attorney Lt. Col. Kris Poppe said the judge showed a bias against Hasan when he asked defense attorneys to clean up a court restroom after Gross found a medical waste bag, adult diaper and what appeared to be feces on the floor after a previous hearing. Hasan, who is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by police the day of the shootings, has to wear adult diapers – but the mess in the restroom that day was mud from a guard’s boots, Poppe said.

“In light of these rulings, and the military judge’s accusations regarding the latrine, it could reasonably appear to an objective observer that the military judge had allowed the proceedings to become a duel of wills between himself and (Hasan) rather than an adjudication of the serious offenses with which (Hasan) is charged,” judges wrote in the ruling.

–

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Comments (101)

HigherRoad
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 9:30am
Hasan was a Muslim when he joined the military; he is still under the same dress code now as he was when he joined. The judge had every right to require that he be clean shaven. Hasan is a mass murderer and should be tried (and convicted) immediately. As others have asked, “Why are we wasting money on this man?”
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- Walkabout
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 11:11am
  We are wasting money on this , because the progressive/******** have told the military to do so. they have created a climate of fear with their past actions & speeches.
  
  The Military Appeals court said that the Commanding Officer was supposed to enforce grooming standards & not the court. Why did the commanding officer not do so. Because he wants to make the next rank & Congress goers over promotion lists for General with a fine toothed comb.
  
  You do something normal & thus not PC and you are toast. Can you see what the lying, radical Muslim representative from Minnesota would do? He could put a hold on any promotion.
  
  This was the representative that was sworn in on Jeffersons’s Koran. A Koran that Jefferson had translated to try to understand a people that attacked U.S. citizen unprovoked
  
  Report this comment
- AmericanFightingMan1
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 12:16pm
  People don’t get it. The enemy has already infiltrated our gates and sit at the highest levels of our government. The People are paralyzed and don’t know what to do, so we sit and twiddle our thumbs.
  
  Hasan is just a scout from an enemy hellbent on taking us down. American cities are nearly wholly owned by the allies of islam. As is the seat of our federal government. Cowards will themselves to not see this.
  
  Report this comment
- coachsmac
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 12:48pm
  For 32 cent I could save the country millions and sleep like a baby tonight!!! Or I could use a hammer and save the 32 cent!! He doesn’t deserve the trial or mercy, he is a murderer and as such should be hanged, but I will volunteer to use the hammer!
  
  Report this comment
- Proverbs17-12NLT
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 1:02pm
  If Obama had a Son he would look like this.
  
  Report this comment
- girlnurse
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 3:23pm
  AMERICANFIGHTINGMAN1 is right!
  
  Report this comment
- Mulder1
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 4:47pm
  Shave his freaking beard and get on with the trial. Why hasn’t Major Jihad’s commanding officer ordered him to shave his beard? Is he afraid of being called an Islamophobe? Are country is being led by a gutless, liberal Dhimmi who is an Islamophile.
  
  Report this comment
- YankeeDelta68
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 6:09pm
  takem out and shot him his 72 virgin pig are awating him,besides someoneelse needs a wheelchair!!!!!
  
  Report this comment
- TheVoice1
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:04pm
  The man openly killed American soldiers in America because of his religion while getting paid for it by our military.., who gives a flip about his beard!!!!!! Are they replacing the judge with a Muslim judge now because of his religion? Is there any question about him killing these people? He bragged about it…
  
  Report this comment
- Secret Squirrel
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 9:49pm
  What happened to firing squads?
  
  Report this comment
GuruMeditation
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 9:21am
Quit wasting our time and money on this thug and sentence him!

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- MCGIRV
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 2:39pm
  Execute the bastard already!
  
  Report this comment
- therightisright909
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 6:26pm
  Execute him and his Commanding Officer. His CO is responsible for enforcing the UCMJ the same for all members of the U.S. Army. Beards are not/never allowed for a member of the U.S. Army. I developed a rash on my face while a draftee in the Army, got a doctor’s order to not shave for a week. Within one day, while on an elevator with a master sergeant (Not even in my unit) I was ordered to shave as soon as I returned to my quarters. He didn’t care I had a doctor’s order. When you are a soldier, you have to go by the rules, period. There are no exceptions, His CO should never be considered for a promotion, he should be discharged, then shot.
  
  Report this comment
paulwbrown
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 9:10am
PC continues to reign in this case.

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- longknifed
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 12:20pm
  No kidding. The entire armed forces is a joke. Only WASP men have to forcibly shed their individuality, while the rest of the manufactured demographics get to opt-out of the dehumanization that comes with enlisting.
  
  Report this comment
- bintalshamsa
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:28pm
  This is an all-volunteer military. No one is forcing WASPs to shed their individuality. Your persecution complex is silly.
  
  Report this comment
oldincarolina
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:45am
IT seems as though this Muslim murderer is never going to be tried and executed for the crime he committed. Obama will see to that. And, quess what ? The murdering Muslim is still getting his pay each month!! I wonder who ordered that to happen ?

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EqualJustice
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:45am
The real shame in all of this is that the TERRORIST lived to torment even more of us. Poor families of those murdered at Ft Hood. This is a travesty.

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YourVoiceMatters
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:44am
apparently this dirt bag has friends in high places!

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barber2
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:41am
How about a burka ? So uni -sex and all…..

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azcowboy1
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:35am
I guess 13 was his lucky number. Give me 2 minutes, I’ll shave the muslim Bastard

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kdshell1
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:18am
Hasan was okay with shaving his beard to get into the position to be able to murder military personnel for his faith.

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- gsplgtr
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:44am
  It’s perfectly OK to lie about who you are to get close enough to your enemy to kill them, at least in Islam it is.
  
  Report this comment
- Balzy
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 9:17am
  Gotta love america ;D you see that? we’re onto you guys, don’t think we don’t knOoow
  
  Report this comment
- bintalshamsa
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:36pm
  @GSPLGTR Do you know where that Islamic principle came from? It’s actually something that Christians were preaching before Muhammed was ever born. Casuistry is the forefather of taqiyya.
  
  Report this comment
alpha2omega47
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:59am
This is a good example of the difference between a spineless, liberal, politically-correct, presidential administration and a conservative presidential administration. If we had a conservative presidential administration and a patriotic, old-fashioned American society (like we used to have) ~ this guy would have already been history.

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- GardenoftheGods
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 10:29am
  AMEN! I was listening to Marcus Luttrel’s book “Lone Survivor” and he put it succinctly…if America goes to war to be LIKED; then we need not bother anymore & the progressives have destroyed our reputation around the world. Presidents who believe in America, the old, strong America who fights to win..would have shaved this bastard & put him to death because he killed our soldiers! Instead, he’s collecting $6000/mo while the wounded & relatives of the dead of Ft. Hood shootings are still fighting to be recognized as war heroes…not work place violence like the ****** in the White House says! Time to grow a pair America!!!
  
  Report this comment
tonkaslim
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:59am
We’re over. It’s all just noise, now.

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- Michigander
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:14am
  I don’t know, I say we pick a few states and all move there, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, we could take the electoral college votes from California, New York and Ohio and turn this thing around.
  
  Report this comment
- DougHuffman
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:32am
  The Free State Project was founded in 2001 for progressives to further take over New Hampshire, how are they doing?
  
  I moved to a small impoverished island.
  
  Report this comment
Gringo Lingo
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:57am
Who caresabout a skankybeard? Execute that P.O.S. TODAY!!

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- betsyyoung
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 11:56am
  I’m with you, gringo!!!!
  
  Report this comment
- HumbleMan
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:18pm
  Let’s put him on a “Pathway to Death” like the UK health service does. He’ll last about 4 days with no water or food. If it’s humane enough for babies and old-folks, it’s good enough for this POS.
  
  Report this comment
mrunner
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:53am
Wasting way too much time and money on this puke. Unless I am missing something, there is overwhelming, irrefutable evidence that this sub-human is guilty. Political correctness run amok. Off this guy already. Radical Islamists are laughing at us. “workplace violence”???? BS

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mrmarkjohnson
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:49am
Dude looks too healthy. They should have been torturing him a little harder.

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Quiata
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:48am
Remember, this was merely a case of “workplace violence”… Not that this mass murderer’s religious connections have anything to do with it, right?

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americansfightingforcommonsense
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:46am
Why is this man still alive. We know he is guilty. We know he knew what he was doing. What are we doing? Escort him straight to Allah.

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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:45am
.
Just cut his F&^%$#%$ing head off already……………..

Or let him go which ever is easier……….

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- countryfirst
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:06am
  Either way, dead or released I am sure the voter fraud would show he voted for BHO
  
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ThePostman
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:45am
He’s wearing a diaper now, lol. I say give him life, not a bullet. And make him clean up his own crap in his cell, or live with the consequences. And feed him well so that he lives this way a long time.

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- therightisright909
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 6:32pm
  If we’re going to feed him (and I think a bullet is better) he only get pork, nothing else.
  
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DadRocked
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:43am
“…a duel of wills between himself and (Hasan)…”
So what? Duel of wills between a judge and a terrorist?
“rather than an adjudication of the serious offenses with which (Hasan) is charged,”
HE’s A TERRORIST!!!! Should have been shot DEAD at the scene…

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- TEARS FOR AMERICA
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:50am
  And these progressive nutjobs scream “justice” all the while the family’s of these 13 lost lives get ZERO. This is a tragedy that should not be happening in America.
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:18am
  Good Morning Dadrocked!
  You are correct sir, the terrorist should’ve been killed at the scene of the massacre,this is justice denied.
  
  Report this comment
- DadRocked
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:51am
  Slayer – Good morning to you to sir!
  I know that training states to wound not kill…
  The cop was hit when she fired at him… I believe that her wounds affected her shooting but that she was going for the kill shot.
  
  “…this is justice denied.”
  What if this/that comes out of this, we don’t know at this time so I’m not going to speculate.
  With that part said and with how things have been playing out of late.
  With the relieving of post for the judge, I can not believe that the big 3 (DOD / DOJ / POTUS) hands are not dirty right now on this case.
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 9:10am
  Rest assured their fingerprints are all over this,because Barry and co.will do anything possible to help their brother out.
  
  Report this comment
- DadRocked
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 9:19am
  So So Wrong…
  
  Report this comment
FaiththruHearing
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:43am
How does a beard or no beard effect the guilt of a man. If the man followed the military’s grooming standard when he was an officer, it stands to reason that he can follow it during his trial. Did he committ meditated murder, yes or no.

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Stelex
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:43am
Why are we wasting this much time and money on this POS? Every aspect of our government is dysfunctional. With dysfunctional leadership, I doubt things will ever get better. Joe Average better realize soon that the inmates are running the asylum and it does not bode well for us.

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Xiccarph
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:43am
I’m sure Obama’s Administration will find a peaceful, sensitive, and tolerant way out for this simple case of “workplace violence” placed against this poor man’s religious Right of Jihad.

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REVerse
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:40am
Political Correctness is funny.

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- TheEndIsComing
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:53am
  Political correctness is not the least bit funny. It’s ruining our country.
  
  Report this comment
SaturdaysWarrior76
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:37am
I can’t believe this is still going on. Oh, but we have to do everything we can, to make sure this “pampered TERRORIST” is comfortable and happy.. uuuggghhhh!!! The whole thing makes me sick.

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countryfirst
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:36am
Get this guy in front of the firing squad already or lock him up and throw away the key , we need to focus on the other Major threat to our military BHO.

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