600 jury prospects for Haq's 2nd trial

More than three years after an attack at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle left one woman dead and five others wounded, prosecutors and defense attorneys will once again pore over hundreds of questionnaires to determine who will decide the fate of the gunman, Naveed Haq.

The answers on those 10-page questionnaires will largely determine who will be called back to the courthouse later this month as the attorneys for both sides seat a jury for the Oct. 20 start of Haq's second trial.

Friday morning, more than 600 people filed into the King County Courthouse to answer the numerous questions designed to gauge their impartiality and willingness to spend hundreds of hours hearing one of the county's highest-profile murder trials in recent years.

The questionnaire was jointly prepared by King County prosecutors and Haq's defense attorneys. Prosecutors declined to discuss the contents. John Carpenter, one of Haq's defense attorneys, did not return calls.

Attorneys will wade through the questionnaires over the next two weeks and then will call a reduced number of potential jurors to return to the courthouse to be questioned by lawyers on Sept. 28.

Haq's first trial last year ended in a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked on 14 of 15 criminal counts after more than five weeks of testimony. Never in question was whether Haq pulled the trigger, but defense attorneys have argued that Haq was legally insane at the time of the shootings.

Haq has remained in custody since the first trial.

Prosecutors have changed their strategy somewhat. Haq will be tried on just eight counts — one count of aggravated first-degree murder; five counts of attempted first-degree murder; one count of unlawful imprisonment; and one count of malicious harassment, the state's hate-crime law.

Prosecutors eliminated seven of the charges from Haq's case, including one count of first-degree burglary, five counts of malicious harassment and one count of kidnapping.

"We decided to streamline the charges for a second jury so that the defendant's actions were much more clear. Multiple counts cause multiple instructions and multiple verdict forms," said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff for Prosecutor Dan Satterberg. "His conduct is still accurately reflected in the eight counts."

Prosecutors also say they have a new piece of evidence — taped jailhouse conversations the alleged gunman had with people since his arrest. While the contents of the recordings haven't been revealed, prosecutors plan to use the tapes to poke holes in Haq's mental-illness defense.

Haq, 33, has again pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.

The Tri-Cities man is accused of forcing his way into the Belltown offices of the federation on July 28, 2006. According to charges, he carried two guns and spewed anti-Semitic statements as he made his way through the offices, randomly shooting those he encountered while people screamed and tried to escape, some jumping out of windows or hiding inside.

Haq, who is of Pakistani heritage, reportedly railed against Jews and U.S. policies with Israel as he opened fire.

Pamela Waechter, the federation's 58-year-old campaign director, was slain. Dayna Klein, Christina Rexroad, Cheryl Stumbo, Carol Goldman and Layla Bush were wounded in the attack.

Court personnel are unsure how long the trial will last.

Information from The Times archives is contained in this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com