U.S. Army doctor Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is the lone suspect in the shooting death of 13 people and wounding of 31 others at Fort Hood in 2009. (credit: Bell County Sheriff’s Department)

FORT HOOD (AP) - The Army soldier accused of opening fire on a Texas military post is expected to appear in court for the first time since an appeals court lifted its stay of the case.

Maj. Nidal Hasan has a Thursday court hearing at Fort Hood.

Hasan is charged in the 2009 shooting rampage that killed 13 and wounded more than two dozen others.

His court-martial — once scheduled to begin this month — was delayed after a dispute over his beard, which violates Army regulations.

Col. Gregory Gross, the judge, had said he would order Hasan forcibly shaved if Hasan did not remove the beard himself. Hasan appealed, and a higher court briefly stayed the case but didn’t address whether officials could forcibly shave him.

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