Retired Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford holds one of the bullets removed from his bodyafter he was wounded in the deadly attack at Fort Hood, Texas.
Retired Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford holds one of the bullets removed from his body after he was wounded in the deadly attack at Fort Hood, Texas. (Chuck Burton, The Associated Press)





Manning dreads the courtroom confrontation.






In the large hall where troops were preparing for upcoming deployments on Nob. 5, 2009, everyone was unarmed. Everyone except Hasan.


Then in an instant, lives were changed forever.

Four things to know about the trial

What charges does Hasan face?

Maj. Nidal Hasan faces 13 specifications of premeditated murder and 32 specifications of attempted premeditated murder under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. If convicted, he would face the death penalty.

Is Hasan still considered a soldier?

Yes. He has retained his rank of major and his salary even in jail. Recently, he has worn a camouflage uniform in court instead of the dress uniform defendants typically wear in a court-martial. Col. Tara Osborn, the presiding judge, has said the camouflage uniform is easier for him to wear as a paraplegic.

How does a military court-martial differ from a civilian criminal trial?

The judge, the prosecutors and the attorneys standing by to help Hasan are military officers, as are the 13 jurors, who range in rank from colonel to major. The jurors must be unanimous to find Hasan guilty of premeditated murder. If that happens, Hasan's case would quickly proceed to a capital sentencing hearing, where prosecutors try to prove one or more aggravating factors that merit a death sentence. One aggravating factor would be the killing of more than one person in an incident. Jurors must be unanimous to sentence him to death. However, three-quarters of the jury must vote yes to convict Hasan of attempted murder. The military courts system also does not have hung juries: If one of the 13 jurors votes Hasan not guilty of murder, he would be declared not guilty.

What happens if he's sentenced to death?

The death sentence would need to be affirmed by Fort Hood's commanding authority, which would prompt automatic appeals at two military courts for the Army and then the armed forces. If those fail, Hasan could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case and file motions in federal court. The U.S. president must eventually approve a military death sentence.

Five condemned soldiers are currently on military death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. If their cases are any guide, it would likely be decades before Hasan were executed. No active-duty soldier has been executed in the military system since 1961. The Associated Press