Will Major Hasan successfully use PTSD as a defense, or will it at least become a mitigating factor to be considered. If the trial is at Fort Hood, as seems likely at the moment, many of the Members (jury) panel will already have quite a bit of extra-judicial information.
Here are some links relating to secondary traumatization.
Zimmering, Munroe, & Gulliver, Secondary Traumatization in Mental Health Care Providers, 20 Psych. Times (Apr. 2003).
I’m not posting much at the moment on the Fort Hood tragedy. People can follow the news as easily as I can. However, this article by Will Heaven in the (U.K.) Daily Telegraph did raise an eyebrow.
Fort Hood shooting: the death penalty would make Nidal Malik Hasan an Islamic martyr
The implication of the article is that commanders should make a political decision that seeking the death penalty is not a good idea. Equally I suppose an argument could be made that the defense should make the geo-politics an issue because anything that might be “mitigating” must be considered when seeking to impose the death penalty. I’m not an advocate of the death penalty for various reasons; a political decision is not one of the reasons I’m against the death penalty though.
Anyone who knows anything about death penalty cases knows that allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) will figure significantly in an appeal. It’s given that no matter how hard they work they’ll be accused of incompetence.
Today, the Supreme Court summarily reversed a Sixth Circuit case in which the circuit court found IAC. Here is a link to the court’s order in Bobby v. Van Hook. It is of interest because the court was critical of the circuit courts reliance on the ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases. Here are the Guidelines.
/tip SCOTUSBlog.
Frustrated with Google Reader, I began using and recommending Morning Coffee as a Firefox plug-in. I still think MC is a good tool if you are only interested in looking at certain websites once or twice a day, or once a week. However, for me that’s not flexible enough.
Thanks to Practicing Law in the 21st Century-A Law & Technology Blog, I have been directed to www.feedly.com as a plug-in to FF. This plug-in is a great alternative to Google Reader, and combined with MC can give you flexibility in keeping track of what’s happening out there. Basically it is a place to collate all of your RSS (or similar) feeds.d
JDNews of Jacksonville, NC, reports:
Private Jonathan Law, 21, was placed in custody of authorities at the Camp Lejeune Brig Sunday, for the alleged homicide of Cpl. Joshua E. Hartzell, 22, according to a release from 2d Marine Logistics Group.
Law was moved Saturday night from Pitt County Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for self-inflicted wounds, to the brig, according to the release.
Where Will They Get the Troops? Preparing Undeployables for the Afghan Front
As the Obama administration debates whether to send tens of thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan, an already overstretched military is increasingly struggling to meet its deployment numbers. Surprisingly, one place it seems to be targeting is military personnel who go absent without leave (AWOL) and then are caught or turn themselves in.
Here are four very good tips from Evan Schaeffer of The Trial Practice Tips Weblog:
Kens5.com reports:
While Major Nidal Hasan recovers in a hospital, the depth and complexity of the legal case which could soon surround him is expansive and could take years to conclude, according to well-known defense attorney, Jack Zimmermann.
In addition to pretrial statements, it is to be considered that the president as commander in chief is the one who ultimately approves a death sentence and signs the warrant. Should President Obama remain in office for a second term, it’s possible he might get to make that decision. He already has one military death penalty warrant sitting somewhere in his office for consideration.
Here is a copy of the preferred charges in subject case, courtesy of CGBlog.
Posts about this case UP: Coastie O-5 in serious trouble
NY Daily News and FoxNews.com report:
A 5.7-millimeter pistol used in the Fort Hood shooting was purchased legally by suspect Nidal Hasan at a Texas gun shop, law enforcement officials said Friday.
Army Col. John Rossi, deputy commander at Fort Hood, confirmed at a news conference late Friday in Texas that the two weapons carried by Hasan were not military arms, but "privately owned weapons … purchased locally."
Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
