Alleged Fort Hood shooter to appear in courtroom for first time

Fort Hood, Texas (News Today) - Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in a shooting spree here last November, will make his first courtroom appearance in connection with the case on Tuesday morning.

It is the first part of an Article 32 hearing, the military procedure similar to a civilian grand jury, for the case being built against him by the Army. Hasan, who is wheelchair-bound from gunshot wounds he sustained in the November 5 incident, will arrive under heavy security from a nearby civilian jail where he's being held.

Hasan did have a hearing shortly after the shooting to determine if he needed to be in custody. But that happened while he was in a hospital bed, and the lawyers came to his room.

Tuesday's hearing will be very technical, and few details of the actual shooting spree are likely to come out.

Hasan will not enter a plea. He is not expected to talk or be asked questions.

Most of the hearing will revolve around evidence Hasan's attorneys have asked for in the "discovery" process, the routine practice that is part of every criminal case, civilian or military.

Hasan's lead civilian attorney, John Galligan, a retired colonel with three decades of experience as an Army lawyer, has asked for everything from DNA test results, to crime scene video, to copies of investigations of the shooting ordered by President Barack Obama.

Last week, the Army delivered 2,000 pages of documents to Galligan, but many of the items he requested are still not available to the defense team, Galligan said.

For example, dozens of shots were fired that day on this sprawling Army base in central Texas. Galligan asked for "records of the measured angle of each trajectory, showing the trajectory from each bullet hole to the shooter's position." The Army said in a court document filed in response, "There are no documents of files of items responsive to the defense request at this time."

Galligan has also asked for all e-mails between Hasan and Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Those emails may be in the documents that were given to the defense but the team has not been able to review all the documents to verify that.

It's also clear from Galligan's request that Hasan's case will delve into what happened before November 5. Hasan's lawyer has asked for reports of inappropriate or substandard work by Hasan while he was training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

One other item to be discussed at Tuesday's hearing -- the schedule. Right now it is possible that witnesses will be called to testify in the Article 32 hearing as early as July 1. Unlike a civilian grand jury hearing, Article 32 hearings involve both the prosecution and the defense, and witnesses are questioned by both sides.

Galligan told CNN that since the entire defense legal team, which includes Galligan and two military lawyers, has only met with Hasan once, the team needs more time to help build a case for him. Galligan said he would like the testimony to begin in October.

Source : CNN

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