By Angela K. Brown
Associated Press
FORT WORTH, Texas — The media and others should not be allowed to hear testimony next month from about three dozen survivors of last year’s Fort Hood shooting rampage because the suspect, an Army psychiatrist, will be unable to get a fair trial, his attorney said Wednesday.
Defense attorney John Galligan said he has requested that the Oct. 12 Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury proceeding, be closed “to all spectators.” The issue is to be addressed at a Thursday hearing in Fort Hood where attorneys also were to discuss what documents they still need in the case.
Maj. Nidal Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 shooting.
Military prosecutors have said the 32 injured victims will be among those testifying during the Article 32 hearing, in which a military officer will listen to witnesses and then determine if there is enough evidence for a trial.
“An Article 32 hearing is often equated to a grand jury proceeding, and the media and the public don’t have access to any grand jury proceedings in the civilian world,” Galligan told The Associated Press from his office near Fort Hood, about 120 miles south of Fort Worth.
Thursday’s hearing was to be Hasan’s second appearance in a Fort Hood courtroom. At a preliminary hearing June 1, Hasan wore his Army uniform and sat solemnly in a wheelchair. He only spoke when answering questions about the proceedings with a soft: “Yes, sir.”
Hasan, who was paralyzed after being shot by two Fort Hood police officers, was treated at a San Antonio military hospital until his April transfer to the Bell County Jail, which houses military suspects for nearby Fort Hood. The military justice system does not have bail for defendants.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press