Trial Delay For NY Man Charged With Beheading Wife
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Lawyers for a man charged with beheading his wife have gotten a judge's permission to present "battered spouse" and justified homicide defenses, leading prosecutors to ask for a delay in the start of his murder trial.
Defense attorneys had been restricted from putting Muzzammil Hassan's psychiatrist on the stand to testify about her diagnosis that Hassan was a battered spouse who'd been physically and emotionally abused by his wife.
Hassan was accused of killing Aasiya Hassan after she filed for divorce last year. Her body was found inside the Muslim-oriented television station the couple founded in suburban Buffalo.
Jury selection was scheduled to start next week, but is now scheduled for Jan. 10.
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