Fort Hood shootings: judge who ordered beard shaved is taken off case Major Nidal Hasan, who may face the death penalty if convicted of the Fort Hood massacre. The military judge who ordered his beard shaved off has been removed from the case. Photograph: AP/Bell County Sheriff's Department The military judge who ordered the Fort Hood shooting suspect to shave off his beard has been removed from the case. The accused man, Major Nidal Hasan, is a Muslim blamed for the killings of 13 people on the Texas army base in 2009 and could face the death penalty if found guilty. The judge in the court martial, Colonel Gregory Gross, had ordered Hasan's beard shaven off for the trial, either voluntarily or by force, arguing it violated army regulations. But on Monday the US military's highest court court appeal removed Gross and threw out the shaving order, saying Gross appeared to have failed to remain impartial. The court suggested Gross had engaged in a "duel of wills" with Hasan about his beard and other matters. The court said it was not ruling on whether the judge's order violated Hasan's religious rights. Hasan has argued that his beard is a requirement of his Muslim faith. "Should the next military judge find it necessary to address [Hasan's] beard, such issues should be addressed and litigated anew," judges wrote in the ruling. Hasan appealed after Gross ordered that he must be clean-shaven or be forcibly shaved. The court martial had been set to begin three months ago but has been on hold pending the appeals. An army appeals court upheld the shaving requirement in October, but on Monday the US court of appeal for the armed forces said the judge was not responsible for enforcing grooming standards. The ruling said that was one example of how Gross did not appear impartial in the case. Gross had repeatedly said Hasan's beard was a disruption to the court proceedings but the military appeals court ruled there was no evidence it interfered with the hearings. Gross found Hasan in contempt of court at six previous pre-trial hearings because he was not clean-shaven, then sent him to a nearby trailer to watch the proceedings on a closed-circuit television. The appeals court's ruling also quashed the contempt of court convictions. Hasan is paralysed from the waist down after being shot by police during the Fort Hood incident and his sanitary needs also became an issue during the court martial, with his lawyers at one stage asked by the judge to clean up a court restroom. "In light of these rulings, and the military judge's accusations regarding the latrine, it could reasonably appear to an objective observer that the military judge had allowed the proceedings to become a duel of wills between himself and [Hasan] rather than an adjudication of the serious offences with which [Hasan] is charged," judges wrote in the ruling. Army prosecutors may be able to appeal the ruling to the US supreme court but have said they will not be commenting until the trial is over. Fort Hood officials did not immediately return calls by the Associated Press on Monday or issue a statement. The 2009 shootings on the Texas army post killed 13 people and wounded more than two dozen others.