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Prosecutors to seek death penalty when Nidal Malik Hasan faces a court-martial

BY Richard Sisk
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Monday, November 9th 2009, 11:02 PM


Raedle/Getty
Bewildered soldiers talk together at the army base where the shooting rampage took place






WASHINGTON - Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan will be tried in a military court-martial, and prosecutors are expected to seek the death penalty, officials said yesterday.

FBI and Army investigators tried to interview Hasan, who is recovering from bullet wounds in a San Antonio Army hospital, on Sunday, but he refused and demanded a lawyer.
Under the military system, Hasan's fellow Army officers - almost certainly combat veterans - will rule on whether he is guilty of the mass murder of 12 soldiers and one civilian at Fort Hood, and, if so, on his punishment. A death penalty would be carried out by lethal injection.
The last military execution was carried out in 1961, and the last execution in a federal court case was in 2003.

If Hasan receives the death penalty in a military court, his appeals could drag on for years. Nine soldiers are on military Death Row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; one has been there for more than 20 years.
In the first legal challenge in the Hasan case, lawyer John Galligan, who has been retained by Hasan's family, said a planned visit today by President Obama to Fort Hood for a memorial service could prejudice a potential jury.

"You've got his commander in chief showing up" at Fort Hood to meet with troops and comfort families, said Galligan, 60, of nearby Belton, Tex.
Obama's planned visit "creates an issue as to whether you find a fair and impartial forum, whether that's in the military or even if it were in a federal forum," the retired Army colonel added.

Since leaving the Army, Galligan has defended soldiers in high-profile cases. In 2005, he represented two troopers charged in the beating death of an Afghan detainee.

Galligan is a veteran military lawyer, Last year, he represented a Fort Hood master sergeant accused of negligence during a training exercise in which a soldier died.

He also has dabbled in local politics. In 2006, Galligan ran for Bell County judge, but lost in the Republican primary by a 2-to-1 margin.
Much of the initial legal maneuvering in the Hasan case is behind the scenes. Military officials would not confirm whether Hasan has been advised of his rights under Article 31B of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is similar to a Miranda warning.
The military also has yet to name a "convening authority" - a senior officer who would designate court-martial procedures.
With James Gordon Meek