Fort Hood shooter sentenced to death
A military jury sentenced a US Army officer to death Wednesday for carrying out an al-Qaeda inspired mass shooting on the Fort Hood base in Texas that left 13 dead.
After a short deliberation, the forewoman of a jury of military officers said it was their unanimous verdict that 42-year-old Major Nidal Hasan should be executed.
Hasan, who elected to conduct his own defense during the trial but who called no witnesses and gave no testimony, sat in his wheelchair staring ahead of himself the verdict
was read.
Under US military justice, death penalty verdicts are automatically reviewed under an appeals procedure that could take years.
It can then be appealed through the civilians courts, and any execution would have to be approved by the US
president.
Death penalty verdicts are often overturned, and no soldier has been executed since 1961.
Hasan has nevertheless made no attempt to deny the charges and court appointed defense attorneys had expressed concern that he is seeking execution.
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