Accused Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan was back in court today for one of the final pre-trial hearings before his court martial begins next week.
Judge Colonel Tara Osborn ruled that certain autopsy photos of victims, crime scene video and 911 recordings from the 2009 shooting could all be used as evidence in the case once the trial gets underway starting next week.
Judge Osborn also addressed how the government is wanting to use emails exchanged between Hasan and Anwar Al-Awlaki as proof that Hasan is in fact a terrorist and that we was responsible for the 2009 shootings that claimed 13 lives on post.
Judge Osborn didn't deny the government use of those emails, but she did say she feared that they would place unfair prejudice on Hasan because he could potentially be viewed by jury panel members as guilty by association.
The government then argued that they felt the emails would only serve to clarify Hasan's link to Al-Qaeda and his devotion to terrorism against the United States.
Judge Osborn then brought up how the government's request to use those emails could be viewed as acknowledging the defense of others strategy that Hasan had originally tried to use in this case, which was ultimately denied.
Hasan addressed the court arguing that if the government was going to be allowed to use the emails, then he should be permitted to defend himself using the defense of others strategy.
Judge Osborn ultimately denied Hasan's argument saying that he would still not be allowed to use the defense of others strategy in defending himself, and that the government needed to stick to only the facts in the case in regards to those emails.
The next pre-trial hearing has been set for Friday at 9 A.M.
The court martial is expected to begin on Monday.
