The US Army officer being tried for a mass shooting at a military base in 2009 has offered no defence for his actions in court.
Major Nidal Hasan, who is serving as his own lawyer, was to have delivered his defence arguments, after days in which prosecutors had called witnesses and described the crime that left 13 soldiers dead and dozens wounded.
Hasan however made no arguments on Wednesday and called no witnesses. He simply told his court martial at Fort Hood, Texas: "The defence rests," the Austin American Statesman newspaper reported.
Judge Colonel Tara Osborn dismissed the court, which was to resume on Thursday for closing arguments.
The prosecution is seeking a death sentence. Hasan had sought to plead guilty, but military legal rules do not allow guilty pleas for charges that carry the death penalty.
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Hasan faces 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He has admitted he was the shooter and has pointed to his religious views and desire to protect the Taliban from US troops as causes for the shooting.
Hasan is accused of randomly shooting staff, family members and soldiers who were preparing to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan on November 5, 2009. He was shot by police officers and is paralysed from the waist down as a result.
