By Leyna Krow, Assistant Editor, JTNews
Two weeks after the start of the second murder trial for Naveed Haq, prosecuting attorneys finished presenting their case to the court on Nov. 5.
Haq is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity for killing one woman and injuring five others during an attack on the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle in July 2006. The state is attempting to prove that Haq, who has suffered from bi-polar disorder for most of his life, was fully in control of himself and aware of his actions when he planned and executed the shootings.
The first trial in the spring of 2008 ended in a mistrial with jurors unable to agree on 14 of the 15 criminal charges brought against Haq.
This time around, the state focused its case against Haq largely on the testimony of the attack’s survivors, law enforcement who responded to the 911 calls, and detectives who investigated the aftermath of the shooting.
The last week of testimony for the prosecution included the questioning of former Jewish Federation employee Dayna Klein. Klein, who was shot in the arm, recalled for the jury how Haq walked through the office barking instructions for employees to stay put and not to call the police.
“He didn’t scream it, he didn’t yell it. He just said it emphatically,” she said.
Klein then described how, ignoring Haq’s orders, she crawled back to her office to call 911 and, upon being discovered by Haq, asked if he would be willing to speak with the 911 operators.
Klein teared up a number of times during her testimony and had to leave the courtroom once to regain her composure after describing how she had to walk past the body of her friend and colleague Pam Waechter as police led her from the building.
On Wed., Nov. 4, prosecutors introduced new evidence to the court that had not been heard during the first trial —
a series of phone calls Haq made to his parents from prison in the weeks following the shooting.
In one tape, Haq explained to his mother, and then to a female family friend, why he attacked the Jewish Federation.
“I want you to know the reason I did it. I want to be a martyr,” he said on a tape played to the jury.
Haq told his mother she should be proud of him and she in turn expressed concern about his mental illness, telling him that what he did was wrong and that he should pray.
His mother then put a family friend on the phone and Haq told the woman, “I’m a jihadi now,” and asked that she tell everyone she knows about him.
Both the defense and the prosecution told the jury during their opening statements that they do not believe Haq’s action was undertaken as martyrdom in the name of Allah, however. The day after the tapes were played, the detective responsible for searching Haq’s computer told the court that his search did not turn up any of the phrases that are thought to be terrorist code words, nor any Internet searches for extremist or violence-inciting Web sites. In the year prior to the shooting, Haq had converted to Christianity, but then returned to Islam a few months later.
The defense began presenting its case to the jury on Nov. 6 and has called witnesses who knew Haq personally to discuss his history of erratic and anti-social behavior, as well as mental health professionals who spoke about the various medications Haq has taken and the course of his treatment. It is the defense’s aim to prove that Haq, despite consistent attempts to seek help, had been consumed by his mental illness and was not fully in control of himself at the time of his attack on the Jewish Federation.