US President Barack Obama would have to personally approve the death sentence if Major Nidal Malik Hasan is convicted and sentenced to execution for the Fort Hood massacre.
As a serving officer Hasan, 39, is likely to be tried in a military court in a system ultimately headed by Mr Obama in his role as commander-in-chief.
No member of the US military has been put to death since the 1961 hanging of Army Private John Bennett for rape.
Mr Obama has followed a nuanced line on the death penalty in the past, saying it is not an effective deterrent but should be an option in extreme cases.
In his memoirs he said capital punishment "does little to deter crime" but he supports it in cases "so heinous, so beyond the pale, that the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage by meting out the ultimate punishment".
Mr Obama and his wife Michelle are due to attend a memorial service in Fort Hood on Tuesday.
The president will be constrained in what he can say. Any comment which prejudges guilt or sentence could later be cited by defence lawyers as "unlawful command influence". That would extend an already lengthy military appeals process.
Hasan, who is still in hospital after being shot 4 times, is expected to be charged with 13 counts of murder.
Under the military legal system the case would be heard by a panel of 12 officers, all of whom have to outrank Hasan.
Navy lawyer Philip Cave, a military crimes defence attorney, estimated that any future appeals process could take up to 15 years.
Military criminal investigators say Hasan is the only suspect in the shootings but he has not yet been charged as they are waiting to speak to him in hospital.
Army Criminal Investigative Command spokesman Chris Grey said Hasan had acted alone. He said: "We have not established a motive for the shootings."
Officials said no evidence of links to terrorist groups, or anyone who might have helped him, had been found on Hasan's computer.
As a serving officer Hasan, 39, is likely to be tried in a military court in a system ultimately headed by Mr Obama in his role as commander-in-chief.
No member of the US military has been put to death since the 1961 hanging of Army Private John Bennett for rape.
Mr Obama has followed a nuanced line on the death penalty in the past, saying it is not an effective deterrent but should be an option in extreme cases.
In his memoirs he said capital punishment "does little to deter crime" but he supports it in cases "so heinous, so beyond the pale, that the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage by meting out the ultimate punishment".
Mr Obama and his wife Michelle are due to attend a memorial service in Fort Hood on Tuesday.
The president will be constrained in what he can say. Any comment which prejudges guilt or sentence could later be cited by defence lawyers as "unlawful command influence". That would extend an already lengthy military appeals process.
Hasan, who is still in hospital after being shot 4 times, is expected to be charged with 13 counts of murder.
Under the military legal system the case would be heard by a panel of 12 officers, all of whom have to outrank Hasan.
Navy lawyer Philip Cave, a military crimes defence attorney, estimated that any future appeals process could take up to 15 years.
Military criminal investigators say Hasan is the only suspect in the shootings but he has not yet been charged as they are waiting to speak to him in hospital.
Army Criminal Investigative Command spokesman Chris Grey said Hasan had acted alone. He said: "We have not established a motive for the shootings."
Officials said no evidence of links to terrorist groups, or anyone who might have helped him, had been found on Hasan's computer.
Source: The Telegraph, October 8, 2009
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