Hadi Matar
MAYVILLE – The trial of a man accused of stabbing an international perpetrator has been postponed.
Chautauqua County Judge David Foley on Wednesday morning officially delayed the trial of Hadi Matar, accused of stabbing and attempting to kill Salmon Rushdie.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday, but public defender Nathan Barone asked that the trial be delayed because he wants to review Rushdie's upcoming memoir. “Knife: meditations after an attempted murder” scheduled for publication on April 16.
Prosecutor Jason Schmidt had previously requested a copy of the book, as well as any notes to provide to the defense team, but his request was unsuccessful.
Foley said a subpoena would be issued. He doesn't know if it will succeed in obtaining all the documents, but he said the defense may have to wait until the book is available for purchase.
Schmidt warned that the book's publisher might decide to delay it until after the trial, but Foley said he would address that issue if it came up.
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