A military jury on Monday will begin confronting the second phase of the court-martial of Maj. Nidal Hasan: whether he deserves to die for the massacre at his hands four years ago on this sprawling U.S. Army base.
The Army Medical Corps officer was convicted Friday on all 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder in connection with the November 5, 2009, shooting rampage at a Fort Hood deployment processing center. The incident occurred about a month before Hasan was to deploy to Afghanistan.
On his own initiative, Hasan admitted early in the court-martial, “The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter.” He has also indicated a willingness to die as a “martyr.”
“It’s not unlikely he will get his wish,” said Eugene Fidell, a military law expert, and professor at Yale Law School. “Given the number (of murders) and gravity that he’s been found guilty of, he has to be considered a real viable candidate not only for a death sentence, but also to have it carried out.”
Source: CNN