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Finally, a jury in Cleveland, Ohio is about to get the case against Biswanath Halder who allegedly went on a rampage in May 2003 on a university campus killing one student, wounding another and holding hundreds of terrified people hostage for over seven hours. Court officials told rediff.com that the jury could start deliberating by Wednesday evening.
If found guilty, Halder, 65, who faces 202 felony counts including aggravated murder, could be sentenced to die. He is tried under a law Ohio adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The prosecution has argued that Halder had been planning for over a year to attack the Case Western Reserve University because he had a grudge against it.
The case took a long time to reach the jury because Halder's sanity was questioned, with some experts claiming that he was not sane enough to understand the proceedings. And the situation became even more complicated as Halder ranted against the court appointed lawyers.
Several lawyers refused to work with him. In several handwritten letters sent to rediff.com and India Abroad, Halder had complained that the lawyers were the cohorts of the court. There is no justice for a Third World person in America, Halder, who has been living in America for over two decades, wrote.
But Judge Peggy Foley Jones insisted this time that the trial would proceed adding, that the court appointed lawyers will defend Halder whether he wants them or not.
The court also denied permission to the lawyers to argue that Halder was insane.
In the pictures shown in newspapers and on TV, Halder is seen sitting impassive during the hearings.
He often wore a wig. Just as the trial was to start late November, Halder, who has previously claimed to be a Hindu, told the court that he needed a hair piece because his religion forbade him to appear bare-headed in public. He did not elaborate and the court did not ask him questions.
But the lawyers were able to tell the jury that Halder, who had unsuccessfully sued Shawn Miller, an employee of Case Western Reserve University for allegedly hacking his Website, had gone berserk. He faulted the university for not taking action against his foes, and called it an evil empire.
Miller was not hurt in the siege when Halder, who had earned a business degree from the university not too long ago, entered the campus in army clothes, allegedly holding over 1,000 rounds of ammunition. He then began shooting people at random. Norman Wallace, who was killed did not know Halder. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The defense did not call any witnesses on their client's behalf, the local media reported.