OBSERVER Photos by Gregory Bacon Hadi Matar is accused of attempting to kill author Salman Rushdie in August, 2022. The trial began Monday.

MAYVILLE – After more than two and a half years, the trial of a New Jersey man accused of attempting to murder a world-renowned author officially began.

Monday was opening statements for the trial of 27-year-old Hadi Matar, who is accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie multiple times in August, 2022 while at Chautauqua Institution.

Rushdie is being represented by the Chautauqua County Public Defender’s Office. Before court began Monday, Assistant Public Defender Andrew Brautigam requested a continuance of the trial because Public Defender Nathaniel Barone was in the hospital.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt opposed any significant delay, arguing the court calendar is tight, witnesses are from out of town, and he has previously expressed concerns to the court about Barone’s health.

County Court Judge David Foley denied the request for a continuance. He noted there were several attorneys working with Matar, they have been told to prepare for situations like this, and said Matar’s attorneys are “seasoned and capable” to proceed without Barone being present.

PROSECUTION OPENING STATEMENTS

Schmidt presented the opening statement for the prosecution, which took about 25 minutes.

Schmidt noted Rushdie and Henry Reese were on stage at Chautauqua Institution in front of about 1,000 people as well as many more who were watching them virtually.

He said the presentation had just barely begun when a masked man jumped on the stage and began attacking Rushdie, who Schmidt alleges was Matar.

He described the many injuries Rushdie received, including to his eye, throat and abdomen. “Without hesitation this man holding this knife, very deliberately, forcefully and efficiently plunged the knife into Mr. Rushdie over and over and over and over again,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt alleged the attack was meant to not just injure Rushdie, but to kill him.

He did not discuss any motive for the attack.

Schmidt also noted that in the melee, Reese was also injured, being sliced above one of his eyes.

During Schmidt’s presentation, Matar was in the courtroom writing on a legal notepad. He was facing the jury but rarely looked up and appeared to yawn at one point.

When Matar was first seated, before the jury was brought in, he could be heard saying “Free Palestine” multiple times. He was wearing a blue button shirt, which appeared to be a little large for him, and black pants. The shirt was not tucked in and he was not wearing a tie or had the top button buttoned.

There were a number of members of the media present, possibly as many as 50 people. The cameras were allowed to capture Matar walking to his seat. Once Matar was seated, Foley cleared all the cameras from the courtroom but reporters were allowed to stay. He then brought in the 12-member jury and four alternates, made up of nine women and seven men.

DEFENSE

After Schmidt spoke, Lynn Schaffer with the Public Defenders Office gave their office’s opening statements.

During her 20 minutes, Schaffer reminded members of the jury of the oath they took to listen carefully to all the evidence before rendering a verdict. “As he sits here today, Hadi Matar is innocent. You don’t get to assume anything about him,” she said.

She questioned assumptions that may have been made by police that day and told the jury there are questions regarding a video that is expected to be played during the trial. “Just because it shows us something, doesn’t mean it shows us everything,” she said.

Schaffer insisted that she believes the prosecution will not be able to prove all the elements without a reasonable doubt.

WITNESSES

The first witness of the day was Deborah Moore Kushmaul, the chief program officer with Chautauqua Institution. She described the process of how Reese and Rushdie were invited to speak, as well as how their invitation was promoted to the public.

Their lecture was to begin at 10:45 a.m. She said they started possibly a minute late, and then all of a sudden she heard a lot of commotion. She looked up at the stage and saw a pile of people. “I could see blood, I could see them piled on and I could see our audience, many who are elderly, were screaming,” she said.

As Moore Kushmaul walked along the floor heading to go to the stage, Moore Kushmaul was handed a knife by someone she referred to as “the Reverend.” Once getting it, she tried to give it to an officer who had a K-9 dog with him. The officer directed her to place the knife on the stage, which she said she did.

During the court Monday, Moore Kushmaul was handed a box with a knife inside. She confirmed that was the knife she placed on the stage. The jury was not permitted to see the knife because it was not admitted into evidence.

After Moore Kushmaul, Jordan Steves took to the stand. He is currently the chair of education. In 2022 he was the director of strategic communications, which included supporting the Chautauqua Lecture series. His duties included giving support to Rushdie and Reese.

Steves was the first individual who apparently put a stop to the attack. “I picked out which one I thought was the assailant to Mr. Rushdie, ran as fast as I could, lowered my shoulder … to try to disrupt what was happening,” he said.

After knocking the suspect away, he was quickly taken into custody by police.

Steves was asked to identify the assailant, to which he pointed to the defense table and described Rushdie by the clothing he was wearing.

After Steves’ testimony, the court concluded for the day. The trial will resume at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.