Military jury convicts Fort Hood shooter

FORT HOOD, Texas — A military jury on Friday convicted an Army psychiatrist of murder in connection with the shooting here four years ago that killed 13 and wounded dozens, the deadliest attack on a U.S. military base.

The jury of 13 officers deliberated for about six hours before finding Maj. Nidal Hasan guilty of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. The verdict for premeditated murder was unanimous.

That means Hasan, 42, remains eligible for the death penalty. Under military law, committing multiple murders qualifies a defendant for the death penalty, provided the verdict for at least one pre- Nidal Hasan meditated murder conviction is unanimous.

Before the jury appeared, the military judge, Col. Tara Osborn, cautioned the gallery.

“When a jury renders its verdict, that can provoke powerful emotions,” Osborn said, warning audience members to leave if they could not resist showing “agreement or disagreement with the panel’s findings.” Everyone stayed. A female colonel serving as the jury president, or foreman, read the verdict at 12:35 p.m. Hasan stared at her as she read:

“Nidal Hasan, the panel has reached by a unanimous vote a verdict of guilty,” she said, adding that the jury also found him guilty of attempted premeditated murder.

Hasan remained impassive as she finished, then looked down.

In the gallery, about a dozen victims’ relatives remained quiet. Afterward, there were

small signs of emotion — one placed a hand on another’s shoulder, a woman slipped on sunglasses to hide her tears. Many had tears in their eyes as they left court.

Other victims and their families heard about the verdict soon after. Autumn Manning, of Lacey, Wash., whose husband was among the wounded who testified, said she saw another victim report the verdict in a Twitter message.

The Twitter post came from former Fort Hood Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley of Kure Beach, N.C., who testified about how she was shot while trading gunfire with Hasan.

“So overwhelmed with joy and tears!” Munley wrote. “God Bless the victims in their strength.”

Manning, 37, couldn’t stop crying.

“It’s just a sense of relief,” she said.

Retired Army Sgt. Howard Ray, who received the Army Commendation Medal for carrying nine people to safety during the shooting, said he now wanted to see Hasan condemned to death.

“What’s important for us to focus on is the sentencing,” said Ray, 33, of Killeen, Texas. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get justice then as well.”

After leaving court, Hasan called his civil attorney, John Galligan, to make sure he had heard the verdict. Galligan, a former military judge, said he wasn’t surprised because Osborn had barred Hasan from using a “defense of others” legal strategy to explain his motive: that he attacked deploying soldiers to protect Taliban leaders overseas.

“It’s not a fair verdict because he wasn’t allowed to present a defense,” Gal- ligan said.

The dramatic case, which has been plagued by delays, became bogged down last year when Hasan, an American-born Muslim, grew a beard for religious reasons in violation of Army regulations and a judge’s orders. Hasan also requested a delay after he fired his attorneys, first civilian, then military, and decided to represent himself. After the verdict, Osborn urged Hasan to reconsider his legal representation at sentencing next week.

“You understand that you would be better off with a trained lawyer?” she said.

“I do,” Hasan said — but he decided to keep representing himself anyway.

Prosecutors argued that Hasan was motivated by a “jihad duty” to kill soldiers. Hasan rarely challenged them, admitting to the shooting in his opening statement and arguing that his religious beliefs led him to switch sides and attack fellow soldiers. He declined to cross- examine witnesses for the prosecution, to call witnesses, testify or submit much evidence — a stark contrast to the prosecution, which called nearly 90 witnesses and submitted more than 700 pieces of evidence.

Hasan’s military attorneys, who the judge had ordered to stay on as his legal advisers, complained that Hasan was seeking a death sentence. Hasan disputed that assertion.

The same jury that convicted Hasan will decide his sentence. In order for him to receive the death penalty, the jury must vote unanimously three times: first on an aggravating factor (multiple murders), next that the aggravating factor outweighs mitigating evidence, and last on the death sentence.