SEATTLE – For the first time, jurors are hearing jailhouse phone calls from accused Seattle Jewish Federation shooter Naveed Haq to his mother.
"You don't have to worry about me. You should be proud of me for what I did," Haq was heard telling his mother as the phone call was played in court.
The calls were made just days after the July 28, 2006 shooting that killed Pamela Waechter and wounded five other people.
This is the second trial for Haq after the first case ended in a mistrial.
Senior prosecuting attorney Don Raz says the two reasons he didn't use the calls in the first trial were because he thought he had enough evidence to convict Haq without them and because he was waiting for a higher court ruling to determine if the calls could legally be used against Haq.
The question for jurors is whether Haq was sane or insane at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors say the calls paint Haq as a man who was angry about U.S. and Israeli relations in the Middle East. Haq's attorneys say he is a mentally ill man who is detached from reality and needs treatment.
"I have nothing to forgive. I did the right thing," Haq said to his mother. "You should look. I got the Jews. They were the enemies."
If convicted, Haq could face life in prison. His attorneys want him sent to a state mental hospital for treatment.
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