Alleged Ft. Hood gunman Maj. Nidal Hasan paralyzed and may never walk again, lawyer saysNY Daily News
The accussed Fort Hood gunman is paralyzed and likely will never be able walk again, his lawyer said Friday.
Attorney John Galligan said Maj. Nidal Hasan's medical condition remains "extremely serious" and "it appears he won't be able to walk in the future."
Galligan, a retired Army colonel, met Thursday with the Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at the sprawling Texas army post on Nov. 5. Galligan said Hasan was coherent in the early stages of the meeting but began to fade toward the end of their hour-long session in the hospital intensive care unit where the accused gunman is recouperating from gunshot wounds.
Hasan, charged Thursday with 13 counts of premeditated murder, could face the death penalty if convicted in a military court martial.
Twenty-nine people were injured in the rampage.
"He understands who I am," Galligan said.
But as the meeting progressed the lawyer said "I could tell I was kind of pushing him in terms of my ability to keep him fresh and alert in a discussion with me."
Galligan complained that Hasan was charged in the hospital without his lawyers present, Galligan said.
"What I find disturbing is that my client is in ICU, and he's 150 miles south of his defense counsel, and he's being served with the charges," he told The Associated Press.
"Given his status as a patient, I'm troubled by this procedure and that I'm not there. I'm in the dark, and that shouldn't be the case. I am mad."
Hasan could face additional charges. The military had not decided whether to prosecute him for the death of the unborn child of one of the murdered soldiers, officials told The Associated Press.
The Army has said they believe Hasan acted alone. Faced with reports that the FBI knew Hasan had been in contact with a radical Islamic imam in Yemen and that he may have attempted to convert U.S. soldiers to Islam, President Obama has ordered a review of all intelligence related to the troubled Army shrink be preserved and reviewed.
The first results are due Nov. 30. Members of Congress are also pressing for a full investigation into why Hasan was not detected and stopped. A Senate hearing is scheduled for next week.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee confirmed this week that the U.S. government knew of 10 to 20 e-mails between Hasan and a radical imam, beginning in December 2008.
Months before the shootings, doctors and staff overseeing Hasan's training at Walter Reed Medical Center characterized him as lazy and a mediocre student who often was belligent with classmates in his strong religious views. Some questioned Hasan's sympathies and whether he would be more aligned with Muslims fighting U.S. troops.
There also was some concern about whether he should continue to serve in the military. But they saw no signs of mental problems or risk factors that would predict violent behavior, officials said.
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