Court martial ordered in Fort Hood case

FORT HOOD, Texas, July 6 (UPI) -- Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, the psychiatrist charged with the Fort Hood massacre in Texas, will be tried in a military court, the base commander said Wednesday.

Hasan could receive a death sentence if he is convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder, the Austin American-Statesman reported. He is also charged with 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

The 2009 shooting spree occurred shortly before Hasan was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan.

Military officials said Hasan's arraignment and trial have not been scheduled. A military proceeding was recommended after an Article 32 hearing.

Hasan was shot by a police officer and is paralyzed from the waist down.

Investigators found after the shootings that Hasan's behavior had been erratic and suspicious for some time. He had been in touch with a U.S.-born religious leader in Yemen and had suggested the war on terror was a war on Islam.

Although six soldiers are now on death row at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, the military has not executed anyone since 1961. Defendants cannot plead guilty in capital cases, and there are mandatory appeals, while the president must authorize all executions personally.