Army court rules suspect can be ordered to shave

BEAUMONT, Texas – An Army appeals court in Virginia ruled Thursday that a judge is entitled to order Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, accused in a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas, to appear clean shaven at his upcoming court-martial.

Hasan, 42, is an American-born Muslim who shaved during his time in the Army but began growing a beard in jail. He has said he believes he is close to death, and that shaving now would be a sin. Military prosecutors say Hasan grew the beard to make it more difficult for witnesses to identify him at trial.

If convicted in the Nov. 5, 2009, attack, Hasan faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole. Thirteen people were killed and more than two dozen wounded in the shooting at the sprawling Army post about 130 miles southwest of Dallas.

Hasan’s court-martial was initially scheduled for August, but legal wrangling over the beard has delayed proceedings indefinitely. Trial judge Col. Gregory Gross has repeatedly found Hasan in contempt for continuing to wear the beard, fining him $1,000 each time he’s appeared in court with it.

In September, the trial judge again ruled that Hasan’s beard is disruptive and a violation of Army grooming regulations, and ordered him forcibly shaved before his court-martial unless he shaves himself. Hasan’s attorneys appealed, arguing that the order violates his religious rights.

The U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals at Fort Belvoir in Virginia heard oral arguments in the appeal last week and on Thursday upheld Gross’ finding that Hasan did not prove his beard was an “expression of a sincerely held religious belief.”