Seattle jury could not agree on 'intent to murder'
A few jurors thought Naveed Haq was guilty, but many apparently weren't convinced that he went to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle intending to kill anyone.The jury's deadlock in the case centered mainly on whether Haq acted with premeditation or intent -- not so much whether he was insane, one juror said Thursday.
Though the jury split various ways on the 15 criminal charges, she said at least half weren't convinced he was guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of federation worker Pam Waechter or of trying to kill the five women who were wounded.
"It's a very complex case. I don't know how 12 people could come to a conclusion," said the juror, who spoke on the condition that her name not be made public. "We went at it from every angle that we possibly could."
King County prosecutors plan to retry Haq, 32, for the July 2006 shooting rampage. They contend he planned the attack to make a political statement against Jews and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
"We want to hear from as many jurors as possible about what issues they struggled over," said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff for Prosecutor Dan Satterberg. "We'll certainly take their struggles into account as we approach a second trial."
He said it was "too soon to say exactly how the charges would change, if at all."
Haq remains in jail. His attorneys argued during the six-week trial that the mentally ill defendant was under the delusional belief that he was on a mission from God during the shooting.
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