Hassan's attorneys want funds released

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) - New developments in the case of a man accused of beheading his wife in Orchard Park.

Attorneys for Mo Hassan say they're hoping to move forward and have a defense expert retained, but first, they need to free up money from Hassan's accounts. Attorneys for Muzzammil Hassan, accused of killing his wife more than a year ago, say this case is not about, race, gender or religion, and that Hassan is not a fundamentalist Muslim and not an extremist.

Hassan's attorney Julie Atti Rogers said, "The reality is that based on his name, based on the color of his skin, and based on the fear and the panic of all Americans of terrorists and Muslims, this man's got a difficult time as it is."

The 44-year-old Hassan made a brief court appearance. He's accused of beheading his 37-year-old wife Aasiya. Her body was found at the couple's Bridge's Cable Television Network in Orchard Park on February 12, 2009. Hassan's attorneys say they plan to fight for the release of money to present a possible psychiatric defense.

"What the judge wants us to do is provide a legal basis for it. Provide the expert that we're going to call as a witness at trial and then review that before he makes a final determination," said Hassan's attorney Frank Bogulski.

Hassan has been in jail for a over a year awaiting trial. Jury selection is tentatively scheduled for September. County prosecutor Colleen Curtin-Gable says she's ready to go.

"We've been ready. We're still ready. We've been anxious to try this case. I see no reason why this case can't be tried in September," said Curtin-Gable.

Despite what he calls "Islamophobia" in the general public, defense attorney Frank Bogulski expressed a great deal of confidence in how Judge Thomas Franczyk will handle the case.

Bogulski said, "He was one of my professors in law school. He's an intellectual judge and Judge Franczyk understands the law better than anyone."

Hassan's attorneys plan to go before an Erie County surrogate judge next week in hopes of getting Hassan's funds released. They plan to hire a psychiatric expert to assist in Hassan's defense.