Free Republic

The military's highest court ousted the judge in the Fort Hood shooting case Monday and threw out his order to have the suspect's beard forcibly shaved before his court-martial. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled that Col. Gregory Gross didn't appear impartial while presiding over the case of Maj. Nidal Hasan, who faces the death penalty if convicted in the 2009 shootings on the Texas Army post that killed 13 people and wounded more than two dozen others.

The top U.S. military appellate court on Monday ruled that the judge presiding over the case of an Army major charged with a 2009 massacre at Fort Hood, Texas is not impartial and ordered him removed. The court also set aside the order by the judge, Colonel Gregory Gross, that accused gunman Major Nidal Hasan be forcibly shaved. The action by the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces further delays the trial of Hasan, 42 (snip)