Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Hasan to face death penalty

The Army psychiatrist charged in the horrific Fort Hood rampage will have a military trial and face the death penalty, a U.S. Army general announced Wednesday.

Nidal Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the November 2009 attack at the massive Texas base.

His lawyer, John Galligan, had asked the commanding general at the military post not to seek the death penalty because it was costly and time-consuming.

"I believe the Army as an institution has long been planning to go this route," he told The Associated Press.

Hasan, 40, was paralyzed in a shootout with cops and is currently being held at a jail near Foot Hood.

Galligan refused to say whether he was considering an insanity defense for his client. He declined to reveal the details of a military mental health panel's evaluation of Hasan.

The American-bo Muslim was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan the month after the bloody rampage occurred.

Witnesses described Hasan as the gunman who walked through a medical building on the military base, shooting seemingly at random at his comrades and shouting, "Allah Akbar," which means "God is Great" in Arabic.

He is now expected to enter a plea - and a military judge will schedule court martial proceedings.