New judge appointed in Fort Hood shooting case

U.S. Army Col. Tara Osborn was named Tuesday to head the case of Maj. Nidal Hasan, who faces the death penalty if convicted in the 2009 shootings that killed 13 and wounded more than two dozen on the Texas Army post.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces on Monday ousted the previous judge, Col. Gregory Gross, saying he appeared biased against Hasan. The court also tossed out Gross' order to have Hasan's beard forcibly shaved before his court-martial, though it didn't rule on whether the order violated his religious rights as he claimed.

While in custody this spring, Hasan started growing a beard that he says is an expression of his Islamic faith. Gross had sided with prosecutors who say the beard violates Army grooming standards and could confuse witnesses.

The ruling Monday by the military's highest court said the command, not a judge, is responsible for enforcing grooming standards, which means another judge isn't likely to order Hasan to shave, some military law experts said.

"This ruling will have a chilling effect on the future judge because he or she ... will not pursue this beard issue any longer, and the appeals court still hasn't answered the key question of whether Hasan has to comply with military regulations and shave like every other military officer," said Jeff Addicott, director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio. The retired military attorney is not involved in Hasan's case. "But on the flip side, the jury is going to see him in a full beard and may think he is motivated by radical Islamic beliefs. That's what prosecutors and the judge (Gross) were trying to prevent."