Military prosecutors asked jurors today for a unanimous murder conviction against the US soldier accused in the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, insisting that evidence left "no question" that he planned and carried out the deadliest mass shooting ever on a US military base.
A unanimous conviction would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Nidal Hasan, who faces numerous counts of premeditated murder for the attack that killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 at the Texas Army post.
The prosecutor, Steve Henricks, said Hasan asked for the highest-tech weapon available when he went to a gun store months before the attack and began practicing at a gun range. Hasan also used laser sights, which Henricks said "established intent to kill."
It wasn't clear today whether Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, planned to give a closing argument.
He gave only one piece of evidence to jurors: an evaluation from his boss that called him a good soldier, just three days before the attack.
Hasan has offered little defense and has said he was the shooter. Most of the dead were fellow soldiers who, like himself, were preparing to be sent to Afghanistan.
The lawyers appointed to help Hasan he has insisted on defending himself protest that the US-born Muslim is trying for a conviction and a death sentence in an attempt for martyrdom.
Hasan has said the attack was necessary to protect Muslim insurgents abroad from American soldiers preparing for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The prosecutor noted that Hasan targeted soldiers, leaving most civilians unscathed.
Hasan submitted one item into evidence: his last officer evaluation report from his supervisor at Fort Hood, Dr. Ben Phillips, who selected "Outstanding Officer, Must Promote" from three performance-rating options.
The evaluation is dated November 2, 2009 three days before the attack.
When Hasan asked him about the favorable review, Phillips suggested that was his default choice for all soldiers "unless I basically wanted to end their career."
Evidence submitted by prosecutors include Hasan's laptop hard drive, which revealed Internet searches for "jihad" and an article about Taliban leaders urging attacks on Americans.
There are also dozens of photo diagrams of the medical center where the shooting unfolded, each marked up by soldiers who drew where they were standing and where they hid where when the gunfire began.
