Judge Deciding If Fort Hood Suspect Needs Lawyer

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — A military judge is deciding whether the soldier accused in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage is trying to guarantee himself a death sentence.

Defense attorneys who are helping Maj. Nidal Hasan during his murder trial accused him Wednesday of trying to convince jurors to convict him.

Hasan says the attorneys are twisting the facts.

But he has done little to defend himself so far. He told jurors evidence would show he was responsible for the attack that killed 13 people on the Texas military base. He's questioned only two of the dozen witnesses so far.

The judge is now deciding whether to allow Hasan to proceed or to let his standby attorneys take over. However, either decision could likely be the basis of an appeal.

NOMAAN MERCHANT,Associated Press
PAUL J. WEBER,Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.