Evidence Hearing Delayed for Accused Fort Hood Killer

(Oct. 12) -- The evidence hearing in the case of an Army psychiatrist accused of murdering 13 people at Fort Hood last year has been put on hold for at least a day while defense lawyers prepare a request to have the proceedings delayed until next month.

Col. James L. Pohl, the investigating officer in the case involving Maj. Nidal Hasan, said he will consider the request when both sides return to the Texas military base Wednesday morning, The Associated Press reported.

Hasan is accused of opening fire on his comrades at Fort Hood last year in America's worst-ever military base shooting. His Article 32 hearing will determine whether there's enough evidence to put him on trial for murder.

The 40-year-old Arab-American soldier is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 attack. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

The hearing, similar to grand jury proceedings, could last as long as a month, during which time he'll come face to face for the first time with many of the 32 people wounded in the attack. They're expected to recount the 10-minute rampage in graphic detail, for the first time publicly. Relatives of the 13 people killed at Fort Hood could also be called to testify.

"He was on a base," Marikay DeCrow, widow of one of those killed, Staff Sgt. Justin M. DeCrow, told The Associated Press. "They should be safe there."

Hasan was shot by military police during the rampage and is paralyzed from the waist down.

In the weeks before the shootings, Hasan is accused of having exchanged e-mails with a radical Muslim cleric in Yemen with ties to al-Qaida. Some witnesses at Fort Hood's Soldier Readiness Processing Center said the shooter yelled, "Allahu Akbar!" (God is greatest) before opening fire on soldiers getting last-minute health checks before deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan.

One possible witness at the Article 32 hearing is Pfc. Alan Carroll, who told the San Antonio Express-News he was standing only feet from Hasan during the attack. "When me and him made eye contact before he shot me in the leg, it was pure anger," the 21-year-old soldier said.

Hasan's lawyer, retired Army Col. John Galligan, has hinted that he could pursue an insanity defense. "If there's a sanity board issue enough that presents a realistic mental responsibility issue, we could be talking about the possibility of an acquittal," Galligan told the Express-News.

Galligan has also said he plans to probe events leading up to the shootings, including counseling sessions Hasan held with other soldiers.

"Multiple individuals seeking counseling [from Hasan] disclosed what were perceived as war crimes in the weeks prior," Galligan told the Austin American-Statesman.