Fort Hood Hearing Hits Speed Bump

The trial of the Army psychiatrist accused in the Fort Hood shooting rampage may be delayed. A pretrial hearing at the military base's courtroom for Maj. Nidal Hasan was scheduled to begin yesterday, but the defense team asked for a month to "process some paperwork," finds the Austin American Statesman. The judge is considering the request and will rule on it today.

The military hearing, known as an Article 32, is the first step in a process experts expect will end in a death penalty trial for Hasan, who is charged with killing 13 people and wounding dozens more, notes the Houston Chronicle. Hasan, paralyzed from the chest down from bullet wounds he received during the rampage, did not speak during the hearing. Several relatives of the victims sat in the courtroom's public viewing area. (More Fort Hood shooting stories.)