Trial of nidal hasan

Q3 hedge fund letters, conferences and more We Read More. In comparison, the prosecution put in the work on this trial, calling in close to 90 witnesses in a period of 11 days.

The prosecution also presented forensic evidence that linked Hasan to the trial, and testimony about the mental state of the soldier, and his Islamist and Jihadist tendencies. With no formal defense mounted, the jury had little choice but to convict him on all counts. The Fort Hood shooting also injured more than 30 people. Hasan must now wait for sentencing with life in prison a likely outcome, and death by lethal injection a possibility.

The U. Army has not actually executed a soldier since , marginalizing the chances of such a sentence. The Army does retain the right to execute soldiers, however, and murder is one of the most common crimes that resulted in a military death sentence in more recent times.

Updated on Sep 19, , am. Sign in. Log into your account. But experts say that if he is found guilty and then sentenced to death, the lengthy appeals process could delay his execution for years if not overturn it altogether. No active-duty soldier has been executed since Prosecutors have charged Hasan with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. Corn said that, while prosecutors could have sought to charge Hasan under specific federal terrorism laws, the charges of premeditated murder provide a more reliable path to sentencing which is less prone to appeal.

The government has refrained from characterizing the shooting as an act of terrorism, citing intent to ensure a fair trial. Victims are suing to change the designation and receive accompanying military benefits. There is no requirement that the not guilty vote be unanimous for acquittal.

Thus, if the prosecutor fails to persuade just one juror, the presumption of innocence remains intact. The attempted murder counts require a three-fourths majority. Therefore, a guilty verdict on these counts requires 10 votes for guilt. Thus, if 9 members vote for guilt, but only four vote not guilty, the outcome is acquittal.

Once convicted of any offense, the trial enters a sentencing phase where the prosecution offers aggravating evidence and the defense extenuating and mitigating evidence. This phase the trial occurs immediately following the conviction, with no substantial delay while a pre-sentencing report is prepared.

If the accused selects trial by a military jury, the same jury decides the sentence; if the accused selects trial by military judge, the judge selects the sentence. However, unlike most civilian jurisdictions, a military accused may choose to plead guilty before a judge, but still demand a military jury for sentencing. When deliberating on sentence, military juries are instructed to consider a range of considerations, including rehabilitation of the accused and the interests of good order and discipline in the armed forces.

With the exception of the most severe offenses such as spying and capital murder , there are no mandatory minimum sentences or sentencing guidelines. Every case involves indeterminate sentencing, with the sentencing authority judge or jury required to consider the full range of permissible sentences, from no punishment to the maximum authorized by the UCMJ. After deliberating, the military jurors each propose a sentence, and these proposals are arranged from least to most severe.

The jury then votes from least to most severe, and once the requisite number of votes is received for a proposal, that is the sentence. They never vote on the more severe sentence proposals. This is intended to ensure the least severe acceptable sentence is the one adjudged. Finally, before the case is ever submitted for appellate review by the military and in some cases civilian appellate courts, the commander who ordered the case tried by court-martial must consider a clemency petition.

This petition may include new evidence, or evidence not admissible at trial. The most significant feature of this clemency process is that the court-martial outcome is not final until approved by the commander, who has plenary authority to take any action that lessens the severity of the outcome for the accused, but may never make the outcome more severe. In other words, the court-martial judgment is the maximum penalty that may be imposed on the accused even if the commander who ordered trial considers it far too lenient , but the commander may always grant any form of clemency he or she feels appropriate.

There are other aspects of the system that are unique. However, these critical differences indicate the lengths to which Congress and Presidents through rule making authority granted them by the UCMJ have gone to ensure a fundamentally fair criminal justice process for members of our armed forces.

There is simply nothing oxymoronic about military justice, and Major Hasan, like all other military defendants, is the beneficiary of these rules and fundamental constitutional protections like the right to self-representation applicable to military and civilian defendants alike. While many may believe he is unworthy of such process, those who understand the military justice system or the criminal justice system writ large know that how we treat the most obviously guilty accused is the true touchstone of legitimacy for any system of justice.

By that measure, this is a system that deserves genuine respect. Next week, Corn will be doing a follow-up to discuss how the trial is unfolding. You can Tweet questions and responses to the piece ConDailyBlog using Hasancourtmartial or comment below. China slams the U. Constitution as undemocratic. Gluten-free product labeling and the First Amendment. Next 10 Amendments: Equal rights for all. The Constitution outside the courts: Bezos and Henry.

Bellamy Young is returning to ABC later this month. Krot told the man. Angela Simmons caught fans by surprise on Jan. In the Instagram post, the year-old […].