Hospital hearing for Hasan

SAN ANTONIO, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood became a pretrial detainee Saturday after a hospital bedside hearing, his lawyer said.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is in intensive care at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. John P. Galligan, the retired Army lieutenant colonel representing him, said Hasan is paralyzed from the chest down, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

The news media were barred from the hearing, but Galligan talked to reporters outside Fort Sam Houston. Military officials have kept a tight lid on information, refusing even to name the officers prosecuting the case.

The ruling changing his status from restricted patient to pretrial detainee could allow the Army to move Hasan out of the hospital, Galligan said.

"All I'm saying is he's been in the hospital and ICU and I saw no immediate reason to change his status," Galligan said. "We think the government asked for pretrial confinement prematurely. He's paralyzed. He's not going to go on leave."

Hasan was shot by Fort Hood police officers after he allegedly opened fire in a troop processing center on the Texas base, killing 13 people and wounding many more.