Army: Not seeking death for Hasan

BELTON, Texas (KXAN) - The U.S. Army said it is not actively seeking the death penalty against the man accused of the Fort Hood shooting in November.

Yet, Maj. Nidal Hasan's attorney insists the Army is making every effort to have Hasan executed by lethal injection.

Hasan has been at the Bell County Jail under 24-hour surveillance since April 9, and his attorney is pushing to have him moved to Fort Hood Medical Center because he said the jail isn’t equipped to deal with his medical needs.

Hasan is paralyzed from being shot during the Nov. 5 shooting, which killed 13 people on post.

Still, attorney John Galligan said his biggest concern is that the Army is fighting to conceal records. He said there is no way Hasan can get a fair trial because they are not considering him innocent until proven guilty.

"I think you would have to be blind and an idiot to not know and see what's going on at Fort Hood,” Galligan said.

Galligan said the Army has already taken several steps to ensure Hasan will face the death penalty, despite a statement just released that said: "Fort Hood officials want to stress that there has been no decision to pursue the death penalty in the case against Major Nidal Hasan."

Hasan faces 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder after the November shooting rampage.

"It's pretty much a sure-fire thing this will be tried as a death penalty case,” Galligan said.

In Galligan's 36 years practicing military cases, he said he has never been stonewalled the way he has been in the Hasan case.

“I still do not have direct access to the CID [investigative] office where all of the files are located,” Galligan said.

Galligan said he believes those reports could prove Hasan is not fit to stand trial.

There were reports "that indicated that there were warning signs, signals that Maj. Hasan was, in the words of one report, 'psychotic,' ” Galligan said. 

Watch the raw interview

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