In a fractured version of the Dirty Dozen script, the military judge sought to emulate Robert Ryan's character.

AP: Court ousts judge, shaving order in Fort Hood case (4 Dec 2012):

Hasan appealed after Gross ordered that he must be clean-shaven or be forcibly shaved before his military trial, which had been set to begin three months ago. It has been on hold pending the appeals.

An Army appeals court upheld the shaving requirement in October. But Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces said the command, not the judge, is responsible for enforcing grooming standards.

Gross had repeatedly said Hasan's beard was a disruption to the court proceedings, but the military appeals court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to show that was true.

Gross found Hasan in contempt of court at six previous pretrial 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 vacated the contempt of court convictions.
If the defendant wants to appear as a combatant in "God's Army", so what. The evidence needed to convict appears to be more than adequate.

Why do some judges allow themselves to be diverted by collateral issues ? The need to assert their authority, I'd posit - but to what end when justice is delayed ?

Regards

Mike