Accused Fort Hood shooter confined until trial
Last Updated: Saturday, November 21, 2009 | 11:10 PM ET
CBC News
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of murder in connection with a shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences/Associated Press)The Army psychiatrist charged in one of the worst mass shootings on a U.S. military base will be confined until his military trial, his lawyer said Saturday.
During a hearing Saturday at Maj. Nidal Hasan's room in a Texas hospital, where he's recovering from gunshot wounds, a magistrate ruled that there was probable cause that Hasan committed the Nov. 5 shootings at Fort Hood.
His civilian lawyer, John Galligan, said the magistrate ordered Hasan to pretrial confinement, which usually means jail, until his court martial.
Galligan said the magistrate ruled that Hasan will initially be held at Brooke Army Medical Center, where he has been in intensive care since the shootings that killed 13 and wounded two dozen others.
Saturday's hearing was closed to the media. Officials at Fort Hood declined to comment.
Galligan said Hasan has no feeling from the chest down and has limited movement in his arms. Hasan has been told his paralysis is permanent, Galligan said.
Hasan was shot by civilian members of Fort Hood's police force after the shooting rampage in a crowded building where soldiers must go to finalize their wills, update their vaccinations and get vision and dental screenings before they are deployed.
Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder. Authorities haven't said whether they'll seek the death penalty.
Galligan said he's concerned about where Hasan will be moved once he's released from the hospital, but he doesn't know when that will happen.
With files from The Associated Press
