Legally, 'we're in for a long haul'
Case against soldier accused in mass shooting faces many hurdles

By LYNSI BURTON and STEWART M. POWELL
WASHINGTON BUREAU
Nov. 9, 2009, 9:57AM

(109 comments on article so far)

Fort Hood photos Armed Sources blog on military news Reaction at Texas on the Potomac News updates on the shootings

(photo) Muslim and in the Army, , Fahad Kamal, a soldier from Sugar Land, talks about his own concerns after a fellow Muslim was accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood. Video Nick de la Torre. Nov 6, 2009.

UPDATE (10:52 a.m. Monday): An Army hospital spokesman says the Fort Hood shooting suspect is conscious and able to talk.


• • •
WASHINGTON — As Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan lay under heavy guard at Fort Sam Houston on Sunday, military prosecutors and the accused Fort Hood gunman's family were preparing for what could be a long and complicated legal proceeding.

Military justice experts told the Houston Chronicle that Hasan, if he recovers, could face the death penalty in a military court-martial — unless civilian prosecutors conclude that he was part of a terrorist plot that would justify moving his case into federal criminal courts under U.S. anti-terrorism laws.

But veterans of the military justice system say that any case against Hasan could take many months and could be delayed by medical assessments of the Army officer's physical and mental health. And even if a death sentence is handed down, the military justice system's lengthy appeals process has effectively thwarted all executions since 1961.

“We're in for a long haul,â€