Seattle jihad shooter was a...jihad shooter

As the aggravated murder trial of accused Greater Seattle Jewish Federation shooter approaches, attorneys on both sides continue to argue about whether allegations that Naveed Haq saw himself as a jihadi should be presented to jurors.

Drawing on statements Haq made to his parents from jail in the weeks after the July 2008 shooting, prosecutors on the case assert that Haq essentially admitted that the shootings at the downtown Seattle center -- which left four people injured and federation worker Pam Waechter dead -- were religiously motivated.

In court documents, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Erin Ehlert said the prosecution will seek to offer testimony from a University of Washington expert on Islam at trial. The professor, Ehlert said, "will explain the cultural and religious tenets that make the defendant's comments clear, cogent, relevant, and not delusional."

"The state will not argue that Haq is a terrorist," Ehlert said. "The state's argument will be founded on a religious interpretation of statements and commentary."

An earlier trial, during which Haq's attorneys argued he was insane, ended in June 2008 with jurors unable to decide his guilt on most of the 15 counts against him. Prosecutors have since reduced the number of charges against him to eight, preserving five counts of attempted murder and the aggravated murder charge that would carry a mandatory life sentence, as well as unlawful imprisonment and hate-crime charges

That trial did not include claims that Haq considered himself to be a jihadi, nor were tapes of Haq's jail phone calls in which he apparently claims to be one played for jurors. Though a final ruling is expected shortly before trial begins next month, King County Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas has previously held that the calls will be admitted as evidence.

Haq's defense attorneys contend that their client, who faces a life sentence if convicted, was not of sound mind at the time the shooting occurred or in the weeks that followed. As in the earlier trial, they are expected to ask that jurors find Haq not guilty by reason of insanity.

The jail calls, Haq's attorneys contend, show Haq making "nonsense claims that he wanted to be a martyr, that he was a jihadi, and that his parents should be proud of him."

"He made all these claims when his psychotic mental illness was left unchecked because of improper medications," Haq's attorneys said in court documents. "Once stabilized, he never made any of these absurd claims."

Haq's attorneys and Ehlert declined to comment on the pretrial wrangling citing concerns that doing so might unduly influence jurors.

In a search of Haq's homes in the Tri-Cities, Seattle police recovered a prayer written by Haq four days before the shooting. In it, Haq apparently complained that supporters of Israel had hijacked American foreign policy and expressed concerns that American-made weapons were being used in the Israel-Lebanon war.

Haq did not "lapse into any virulent anti-Semitism" in the prayer, the prosecution's expert witness noted in court documents. Whether he made such a lapse while speaking to his parents following his arrest, however, remains unclear.

Writing the court, the defense warned that allegations that Haq saw himself as some kind of religious warrior could play to jurors' prejudices. They went on to request records from and contact information for FBI agents who investigated the case immediately after the shooting....

"He is a very ill man with a long, sad history that documents the ascent of his psychosis and his concomitant personal decline," Haq's attorneys told the court. "To ensure that the flames of anti-Muslim prejudice are not fanned to secure an unjust conviction, the defense needs to interview -- and potentially call as witnesses -- the federal officers who determined that Mr. Haq had no terrorist connections."...