It will be difficult to overcome smoking gun evidence against Hasan

NY Times:

Defending the man accused of premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 shooting rampage at Fort Hood is the kind of test that many lawyers dread, and that some live for.

How does Col. John P. Galligan, the retired Army officer who is representing the accused, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, defend someone who shot and killed 13 people before so many witnesses, whose story became national news, in a court where the judge and jury will be fellow soldiers?

Military experts say the best Colonel Galligan might hope for is to save his client from the death penalty.

“There won’t be a lot of guilt-innocence maneuverability there,” said Thomas H. Dunn, a former defense lawyer for the Army in death penalty cases.

Avenues of defense, experts said, could include the military equivalent of an insanity plea, petitioning for a change of venue to take the proceedings away from the emotions of Fort Hood, and delaying the proceedings to allow the passions to ebb.

Questions could also be raised about the prejudicial effect of statements by military officials, and even by the commander in chief, President Obama, who spoke of the “murderous and craven acts” at the memorial service. Ultimately, if Major Hasan is found guilty, whether he lives or dies could come down to the conscience of a single soldier on the court-martial panel, as military juries are known.

In an interview, Colonel Galligan said he was concerned that his client might not be able to receive a fair trial.

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If Galligan is going to try to convince a military court that his client did not shoot and kill people at Fort Hood , he is going to have a serious credibility problem. The best he can probably do is either cut a deal or go right to the penalty phase of the trial. If his client is not given the death penalty and he remains paralyzed, he is going to have to be in a special needs facility and he is going to have to be protected from other inmates. It would be a costly incarceration for the Army.