Watch CBS News

First Day Produces No Jurors For Wife Beheading Trial

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- A full day of jury selection has produced no jurors for the second-degree murder trial of a New York television executive charged with beheading his wife.

Lawyers predicted going in Monday that it'll take longer than usual to seat a jury for Muzzammil Hassan's trial. The 2009 killing of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan has received much media attention, in part because the couple ran a television station whose goal was to counter negative images of Muslims.

Potential jurors are being asked whether they have issues with the Pakistan-born Hassan's ethnicity, or the fact that he's Muslim and may claim self-defense.

Hassan wrote on a legal pad through much of the proceedings in Erie County Court in Buffalo.

Jury selection resumes Tuesday.

(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.