A military judge on Thursday ordered officials to forcibly shave Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged in the shooting rampage at the Fort Hood base here in 2009, a move that is likely to delay the start of his trial for weeks as his defense lawyers appeal the ruling.
A few months ago, Major Hasan's assertion that he grew a beard out of devotion to his Muslim faith seemed a side issue as pretrial hearings were held at a military court on the base. But as a hearing Thursday made clear, the beard—and what Army officials can do about it—has become a complex legal issue that has suspended Major Hasan’s trial indefinitely for the second time in the span of a few weeks.
