Judge bars most motive evidence in Fort Hood trial (Maj. Hasan case)
Source: Austin American-Statesman
The prosecution in the court-martial of Maj. Nidal Hasan will not be able to use evidence from the Army psychiatrists’ days at Walter Reed Medical Center nor evidence from a court-martial stemming from a 2003 fatal attack on U.S. soldiers.
Prosecutors planned to present about 10 witnesses this week who would testify to alarming statements the accused Fort Hood shooter made during academic presentations at the hospital last decade when he was a psychiatric resident.
Military judge Col. Tara Osborn said the evidence, including Hasan’s inquiry into obtaining conscientious objector status based on his religion in 2006 or 2007, is “too remote and subject to too many interpretations.”
She also excluded evidence from the court-martial of Sgt. Hasan Akbar, a Muslim soldier sentenced to death for a 2003 grenade and shooting attack that killed two of his fellow soldiers in Kuwait. Prosecutor Col. Steve Hendricks has called Hasan’s Nov. 5, 2009, shooting a copycat attack.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/fort-hood-judge-to-rule-on-evidence-of-religious-m/nZSNQ/
= new reply since forum marked as read
but a lot of people across the country were/are stationed at Fort Hood and with the ties to religion and possibly terrorism it seemed newsworthy at least. The story was already hitting several other newspapers that I view throughout Texas as I post the Texas roundup.
I'll let others decide the merits of the report, but it's already drawn nearly 100 views in the first half-hour and three recs. 
Of course, it was a major tragedy with multiple victims (13 dead, 29 wounded), so very sad 
but also puts the spotlight on the military and military culture and, more globally, how our culture and military fail to address matters of culture and religion.
This is a tragedy that should never have happened, but that had every expectation that somewhere, someday, it would happen.
I think it's good that the judge is using discretion in what to allow in as evidence, and I wonder how truly objective any final resolution will be.
Thanks for posting.
and thanks for expressing the national interest much more eloquently than I did in my response.
I'm in the reporting mode this afternoon so sometimes expressing the emotional sentiments are elusive. One of the side benefits to posting on DU is that it improves my writing skills as I continue to search for employment. Filling out application forms can lead to burn-out and this is my escape from that dreary feeling. Plus, I enjoy the interaction with my fellow DUers since where I live is dominated by right-wingers.
If you agree with what I said about this, and I'm surprised anyone did, we should email and discuss similar topics. I'd really like to have someone of a like mind to communicate with