Judge Sets Fort Hood Suspect Trial For July 9

ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — Jury selection will start July 9 in the murder trial of the Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage.

The judge set the date after rejecting Maj. Nidal Hasan's request for a three-month trial delay.

Col. Tara Osborn, the judge, says testimony will start Aug. 6 at the earliest.

Jury selection will start later in July if a jury consultant hired for Hasan's defense is unavailable. Right now he's scheduled to be working on another case in mid-July.

Hasan faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted in the attack that left 13 dead on the Texas Army post.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

A military judge Tuesday refused a three-month trial delay for the Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage.

Maj. Nidal Hasan made the request after the judge earlier this month allowed him to represent himself at the court-martial. Hasan said he needed more time to prepare for his "defense of others" strategy, which must show that a killing was necessary to prevent the immediate harm or death of others.

Last week, the judge, Col. Tara Osborn, said that defense strategy failed as a matter of law, barring Hasan from telling jurors that he shot U.S. troops because they posed an immediate threat to Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, Hasan told the judge that he no longer needed more time to prepare, although Osborn said she would give him some additional time. Osborn is expected to set a trial date later Tuesday.

Hasan, an American-born Muslim, faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted in the attack that left 13 dead on the Texas Army post.

Jury selection was set to begin in late May, then was tentatively moved to early June. It's been on hold as various matters have remained unresolved.