Fort Hood Suspect Moving From Hospital to Jail

The Army psychiatrist charged in the worst mass shooting on a U.S. military base will soon be moved to a county jail near Fort Hood after four months in a military hospital, his attorney and jail officials said Monday.

Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is paralyzed, is to be transferred to the Bell County Jail and will be housed in a cell in the medical unit, said jail administrator Bob Patterson.

"We're prepared to handle inmates with medical needs," Patterson said, declining to elaborate or comment on whether special security measures would be taken.

Hasan's attorney, John Galligan, said he would be transferred as soon as this week.

Bell County Sheriff Dan Smith declined to discuss details about housing Hasan until he has been moved.

Hasan has been in a San Antonio military hospital since shortly after the Nov. 5 shootings. He remains paralyzed from the chest down after being shot that day by two civilian members of Fort Hood's police force.

Doctors told him late last week that his physical therapy was finished and that he would be moved out of the hospital by helicopter, Galligan said.

He said he did not want Hasan in the Bell County Jail because it was not properly equipped to provide medical care for some of his previous clients, including a paralyzed woman.

Galligan said prosecutors rejected his request to move Hasan to Fort Hood's hospital or to an on-post house with security, two options that would ensure that his medical needs are met. Galligan said Hasan recently fell while trying to move from his wheelchair to a hospital bed, but that a hospital staffer caught him.

"I still see him as a person in need of treatment. Tell me where the threat is," Galligan said Monday from his Fort Hood-area office, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

Prosecutors did not immediately return a call and e-mail Monday from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Hasan was moved to the jail to be closer to his attorney and Fort Hood, where his Article 32 hearing will be held June 1.

Sometime after the hearing, which is similar to a grand jury proceeding, the military judge will decide if sufficient evidence was presented to show that Hasan should stand trial on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts or attempted premeditated murder.

Bell County has housed military suspects for about 15 years through a contract with Fort Hood, which lacks holding facilities.

The multi-million-dollar jail in Belton, about 15 miles west of Fort Hood, opened a year ago to replace the county's smaller, aging facility. It has about 650 beds and was nearly at capacity as of Feb. 1, according to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.

The state agency does not track the number of disabled inmates in Texas jails, said Adan Munoz, the commission's executive director.

"Can they accommodate inmates with disabilities? Yes, they can," Munoz said.

Some jails have their own medical teams, such as Houston's Harris County Jail, which also has a mental health ward. Others, including Dallas County, provide medical services through contracts with local hospitals or health care management companies.

Bell County has a contract with Colorado-based Correctional Health care Management to provide medical care to inmates.