Current:Home > StocksTrial of man charged with stabbing Salman Rushdie may be delayed until author’s memoir is published -Wealthify
Trial of man charged with stabbing Salman Rushdie may be delayed until author’s memoir is published
View
Date:2025-04-12 06:17:16
MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Salman Rushdie’s plans to publish a book about a 2022 attempt on his life may delay the trial of his alleged attacker, which is scheduled to begin next week, attorneys said Tuesday.
Hadi Matar, the man charged with repeatedly stabbing Rushdie as the author was being introduced for a lecture, is entitled to the manuscript and related material as part of his trial preparation, Chautauqua County Judge David Foley said during a pretrial conference.
Foley gave Matar and his attorney until Wednesday to decide if they want to delay the trial until they have the book in hand, either in advance from the publisher or once it has been released in April. Defense attorney Nathaniel Barone said after court that he favored a delay but would consult with Matar.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Jan. 8.
“It’s not just the book,” Barone said. “Every little note Rushdie wrote down, I get, I’m entitled to. Every discussion, every recording, anything he did in regard to this book.”
Rushdie, who was left blinded in his right eye and with a damaged left hand in the August 2022 attack, announced in October that he had written about the attack in a memoir: “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder,” which is available for pre-order. Trial preparation was already well under way when the attorneys involved in the case learned about the book.
District Attorney Jason Schmidt said Rushdie’s representatives had declined the prosecutor’s request for a copy of the manuscript, citing intellectual property rights. Schmidt downplayed the relevance of the book at the upcoming trial, given that the attack was witnessed by a large, live audience and Rushdie himself could testify.
“There were recordings of it,” Schmidt said of the assault.
Matar, 26, of New Jersey has been held without bail since his arrest immediately after Rushdie was stabbed in front of a stunned audience at the Chautauqua Institution, a summer arts and education retreat in western New York.
Schmidt has said Matar was on a “mission to kill Mr. Rushdie” when he rushed from the audience to the stage and stabbed him more than a dozen times until being subdued by onlookers.
A motive for the attack was not disclosed. Matar, in a jailhouse interview with The New York Post after his arrest, praised late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and said Rushdie “attacked Islam.”
Rushdie, 75, spent years in hiding after Khomeini issued a 1989 edict, a fatwa, calling for his death after publication of his novel “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims consider blasphemous. Over the past two decades, Rushdie has traveled freely.
Matar was born in the U.S. but holds dual citizenship in Lebanon, where his parents were born. His mother has said that her son changed, becoming withdrawn and moody, after visiting his father in Lebanon in 2018.
veryGood! (986)
Related
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- California could ban certain food additives due to concerns over health impacts
- Ignoring Scientists’ Advice, Trump’s EPA Rejects Stricter Air Quality Standard
- Ignoring Scientists’ Advice, Trump’s EPA Rejects Stricter Air Quality Standard
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- Jennifer Lopez’s Contour Trick Is Perfect for Makeup Newbies
- Climate Change Fingerprints Were All Over Europe’s Latest Heat Wave, Study Finds
- Calpak's Major Memorial Day Sale Is Here: Get 55% Off Suitcase Bundles, Carry-Ons & More
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- Florida bans direct-to-consumer auto sales but leaves carve-out for Tesla
Ranking
- Sam Taylor
- Jimmy Buffett Hospitalized for Issues That Needed Immediate Attention
- GOP Fails to Kill Methane Rule in a Capitol Hill Defeat for Oil and Gas Industry
- The potentially deadly Candida auris fungus is spreading quickly in the U.S.
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Bob Huggins resigns as West Virginia men's basketball coach after DUI arrest in Pittsburgh
- Colorectal cancer is rising among Gen X, Y & Z. Here are 5 ways to protect yourself
- Megan Fox Rocks Sheer Look at Sports Illustrated Event With Machine Gun Kelly
Recommendation
Small twin
Judge Orders Dakota Access Pipeline Review, Citing Environmental Justice
Wedding costs are on the rise. Here's how to save money while planning
Clinics on wheels bring doctors and dentists to health care deserts
Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
With Tax Credit in Doubt, Wind Industry Ponders if It Can Stand on Its Own
Changing our clocks is a health hazard. Just ask a sleep doctor
Nicky Hilton Shares Advice She Gave Sister Paris Hilton On Her First Year of Motherhood