Fort Hood suspect's attorney questions mental exam

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - The attorney for the man accused of going on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood wants to challenge the Army's plan to have three military health professionals determine whether his client is competent to stand trial. Attorney John Galligan said Monday he has requested a delay in Maj. Nidal Hasan's (nih-DAHL' mah-LEEK' hah-SAHNs') mental evaluation set to start next week.

Galligan says the board should be made up of civilian doctors because recent government reviews of the shooting have cited numerous problems in the military health care system.

I can identify one problem with the military health care system . They employ members of the death cult known as Islam .

For what it's worth, the military's "sanity board" (Rule 706) is a patently fair process - much fairer to the defendant than the similar panels found in the civilian world - IMHO.

For instance, in most of the civilian world, a judge will appoint a court psychologist/psychiatrist who will then issue one report that is seen by both prosecution and defense. In the military, however, the board will issue two reports. A complete, un-redacted report will be given to the defense which includes all the statements made to the board by the accused, but a sterilized or redacted report will be generated for the prosecution that will remove all comments other than those that are answering the specific questions of the panel.

What makes this particular case interesting with respect to the sanity board, is that the accused also happens to be a trained clinical psychiatrist. Essentially, he knows what behavior to mimic and what answers to give to make him appear as crazy as possible. Just like the civilian world, it's tough for the defense to prevail with the so-called insanity defense. But, given the defendant's occupation, I'd say his chances are better than most, if even still slim.

Hasan has a great attorney. He recognizes there is a problem with military medical care. His client is a military medical “professional” therefore....

Anyone have the address to send the pig’s blood?

Wonder if military healthcare professionals can sue the attorney for slander?

I’ve found that the problem isn’t so much the doctors but the administrators.

Let the games begin.

Lawyers play games all the time, but doing so at the expense of the honor of our troops murdered/executed in cold blood in a terrorist act guarantees this lawyer a special place in eternity.

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