The second day of panel selection began today for the trial of accused Fort Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Hasan.
The government and Maj. Hasan individually questioned potential jury members.
Hasan asked the fifth panel member his opinion on the Taliban, his reaction was "I place a lot of honor for my country,the Taliban is considered the enemy."
The colonel has a background in law enforcement and received a lot of information on how police responded to the Ft. Hood shooting. He said he took the information and invested in training his officers so that an event such as the shooting could be prevented.
When Hasan questioned another panel member about his opinion of Muslims and the Islamic faith, he stated that he was somewhat negative towards it due to serving in Saudi Arabia for a year.
The colonel said that the Saudi Arabian people view themselves as the hierarchy of Muslims. "So basically you called the Saudi's out on the hypocrisy?" Hasan said and later thanked the juror member on the behalf of all Muslims.
The government and Hasan questioned the seventh juror about a message on a bumper sticker he had on the back of his car that said "major league infidel", meaning you are against what the enemy believes in. He believed the message from bumper sticker would not effect his ability to be able to be a part of the case.
The final juror member was concerned about the timing of the trial due to his family moving soon. The government happened to have handled a case that his deceased sister worked on as a prosecutor. He thought by being in the panel selection, he was honoring her.
Hasan asked if the panel member was biased towards people that follow Sharia Law. "As a commander you are unbiased as you weigh things for soldiers." He felt Sharia Law is a harsh rule of law and there should be a form of democratic law.
During the panel selection Osborn warned Hasan that during these parts of the trial you are acting as the lawyer, and not testifying in the case and will be held to the same standards as the other lawyers.
Hasan questioned the last member about her being very religious and believing in Jesus Christ. When asked if she found Sharia Law to be somewhat unfavorable she said "It pretty much sucks especially if you are a woman. I am thankful to live in the United States of America where I have the opportunity to wear the same uniform." Hasan stated that the Quran teaches that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ is a non-believer.
Six of the nine panel members were unfavorable of Islamic belief or Sharia Law. Four of the panel members were dismissed. There are still 10 potential juror members: one white female Major, one black female Colonel, seven white Colonels, and one white male Lieutenant Colonel. Those 10 could still be eliminated. The trial needs 13 panel members to move forward with the trial.
A group of six potential juror members will be interviewed Monday.
