FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — An Army psychiatrist charged in a deadly 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage was returned to jail Wednesday after a brief stay in the hospital, military officials said.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was discharged from the Texas Army post’s hospital and returned to the Bell County Jail in nearby Belton, Fort Hood officials said in a news release. The county jail has a contract with Fort Hood to house all of its defendants because the Army post does not have holding facilities. The military justice system does not allow bail for defendants.
Authorities have not said why Maj. Hasan was taken to the hospital Saturday, but he was listed in good condition earlier this week.
Maj. Hasan, 42, faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted in the November 2009 attack that left 13 people dead and more than two dozen others wounded.
Maj. Hasan is paralyzed from the waist down after police at Fort Hood shot him the day of the rampage.
His former defense attorney, John Galligan, said he believes Maj. Hasan was hospitalized over problems related to his incontinence, although he has not spoken to his former client in more than a year. Mr. Hasan has had health problems stemming from his catheter, including blood in his urine, about a year ago, Mr. Galligan said.
Maj. Hasan’s trial was set to begin in August, but all court proceedings are on hold over his newly grown beard that violates Army rules. Maj. Hasan, who says he grew his beard because his Muslim faith requires it, is appealing the trial judge’s order that he must be clean-shaven or be forcibly shaved before the court-martial.
The government has until Friday to respond to Maj. Hasan’s appeal, and then the Army Court of Criminal Appeals is to rule on the matter.
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