Fort Hood shooting suspect seeks trial delay
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}April 9, 2010: In a photo released by the Bell County Sheriffs Department, U.S. Major Nidal Hasan sits at the San Antonio to Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas. (AP)
A military judge will decide Friday whether to further delay the trial of the Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly 2009 Fort Hood shootings.
Maj. Nidal Hasan's attorneys want his court-martial delayed from August until December, saying they need more time to prepare.
The murder trial earlier was set for March and then June.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hasan faces the death penalty if convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.
At a hearing last week, the judge barred Hasan from the courtroom because he's grown a beard -- a violation of Army regulations. Hasan will watch hearings and his trial on a closed-circuit television in a nearby room until he shaves.
Hasan's attorneys say he grew the beard as an expression of his Islamic faith.