Photos: Hassan on stand in own defense

January 27, 2011

BUFFALO, NY (WIVB) – On day seven of the Hassan murder trial, Muzzammil Hassan took the stand to testify in his own defense. Prosecution concluded their case, Wednesday.
Hassan was acting as his own attorney, as he has been for the previous week of court proceedings. His previous attorney, and current legal advisor, Jeremy Schwartz, was by his side to offer advice.
There were numerous objections by prosecution to items Hassan wanted to enter into evidence. Some of those items included hundreds of emails and travel itinerary documents. The emails were excluded due to the question of their legitimacy. Hassan was able to refer to these documents on the stand to refresh his memory of events.
Testifying in the narrative, Hassan spoke directly to the jury for most of the day.
He told his account of how his wife, Aasiya, was demanding of him and later in their marriage, verbally and physically abusive of him. http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/crime/photos-hassan-on-stand-in-own-defense

Photos: Hassan on stand in own defense

Hassan told the jury how his wife was demanding of him and later in their marriage, verbally and physically abusive.

Hassan told the jury how his wife was demanding of him and later in their marriage, verbally and physically abusive.

Prosecution rests their case in beheading trial January 26, 2011

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – The prosecution rests in the trial of the Orchard Park man charged with beheading his wife.
Muzzammil Hassan remains defiant as he represents himself at trial. On Wednesday, he asked the judge to dismiss the trial, claiming the prosecution has failed to present its case. The judge denied the motion. And the jury viewed text messages between Hassan and his wife in the hours before she was decapitated.
When the prosecution rested their case, it seemed to catch the defendant off guard. He was seated next to his legal adviser, leaned over to him, then popped up and said, “The prosecution’s made insufficient evidence to establish second degree murder. I move to dismiss the trial.” The judge denied that immediately.
Hassan admitted he had no live witnesses, but indicated Wednesday afternoon that he may testify himself on Thursday if he has no witnesses to take the stand on his behalf. The prosecution did wrap up its case quickly. They ended with a forensic serologist who examined bloody knives.
Legal adviser to Hassan, Jeremy Schwartz said, “He’s learning those lessons on the fly.”
Muzzammil Hassan’s legal adviser continued to come to the aid of the defendant, who is representing himself in this high-profile second degree murder trial. Asked if jurors are distracted by his client’s lack of legal knowledge, Schwartz said, “It would be improper for them to hold anything like that against him. So I trust and hope that they’re going to make their judgment based on what evidence is in the courtroom and not anything else.”
Day six began with the defendant cross examining a prosecution witness. Objections flew as Hassan asked the police lieutenant if during his investigation he came across an alleged death threat made to him by his wife via e-mail. The officer said, “No.” The defendant also introduced a broken laptop into evidence. He suggested his wife broke it in a fit of rage.
“That will be addressed later at the appropriate time,” responded Schwartz.

A representative for Sprint Nextel was also called for a prosecution witness. He testified and read a series of rapid-fire text messages allegedly sent by the defendant to his wife just days before the slaying. You can read those text messages here. Minutes before Aasiya was beheaded, the defendant allegedly sent a final text that stated, “I am a good man, Aasiya, a humble, and decent man. I made some mistakes. Please don’t punish me hard. God likes forgiveness.”

Schwartz said, “There were text messages, and it’s frankly one of his themes. The text messages can be read by anybody who doesn’t know anything behind them and Mr. Hassan’s point, and what his point has always been, is you don’t really know what was meant by “X,” “Y,” or “Z.””
The jury was released shortly after the prosecution rested its case. They will return Thursday morning. The judge and the defendant discussed his plan for a defense. Some 40 subpoenas were sent out for the defense, including one for the District Attorney Frank Sedita, and prosecutor Colleen Curtin Gable. The judge was not on the list as Hassan indicted he might be on Tuesday. However, no one has been officially lined up for Thursday. http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/crime/Prosecution-rests-their-case-in-beheading-trial