Over objections, judge orders lawyers remain on Fort Hood case
Source: Reuters
Over objections, judge orders lawyers remain on Fort Hood case
By Karen Brooks and Lisa Maria Garza
FORT HOOD, Texas | Thu Aug 8, 2013 1:08pm EDT
(Reuters) - The judge in the court-martial of a U.S. Army psychiatrist who admitted shooting dozens of soldiers on a Texas base denied a request by his standby lawyers to reduce their role, ordering them on Thursday to continue assisting Major Nidal Hasan in defending himself.
The three lawyers had asked military Judge Colonel Tara Osborn to agree to them taking a lesser role after they objected on Wednesday to what they contended was Hasan actively seeking the death penalty and that the lawyers' code of ethics prevented them from assisting. Hasan disputed the assertion.
Osborn turned them down, saying the U.S. Constitution allowed Hasan to the right to defend himself and determine his legal strategy. She called the rift "nothing more than their disagreement with Major Hasan's trial strategy."
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