Maj. Nidal Hasan (Jail photo)

FORT HOOD (June 29, 2012)—Accused Fort Hood gunman Maj. Nidal Hasan returned to court Friday at Fort Hood with a beard and was again consigned to a trailer as his attorneys argued that the officer presiding over the case should recuse himself because of bias.

Col. Gregory Gross has had to dispose of Hasan’s adult diapers after previous proceedings, but said Friday the task wasn’t a particularly big issue until June 8 when he found feces spread on the floor and a biohazard bag on the floor.

Gross sent an e-mail seeking someone to clean up the mess and ordered Hasan to use only the bathroom in the trailer and not one in the room used for court-martial deliberations.

During the June 8 hearing, Gross gave Hasan a final warning about his beard and un-groomed hair and told him that if he refuses to shave and groom he would be removed from the courtroom and placed in a nearby room where he can watch subsequent proceedings on closed-circuit TV.

When Hasan returned to court on June 19 with a full beard,
Gross ordered him moved to the trailer, which is costing the Army $8,000 a month.

During the hearing Friday Gross denied the recusal motion, but granted a motion giving the defense access to Fort Hood’s commander and staff judge advocate.

He also denied a motion to delay Hasan’s court-martial until December.

The trial was already postponed from March and then June, after defense attorneys said they needed more time to prepare.

The court-martial is currently scheduled to begin on Aug. 20.

Hasan faces the possibility of the death penalty if he's convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the November 2009 attack at the post's Soldier Readiness Center.