NY man accused of beheading claims he was battered

The founder of a Muslim-oriented television station accused of beheading his wife will claim he was a victim of  years of abuse at home.

Muzzammil Hassan was in a Buffalo courtroom Friday, where he fired the lawyer who has been representing him for nearly a year and hired a new one with a different strategy.
   

Frank Bogulski, the new lawyer, says he’ll pursue a battered
person defense involving justification.

Hassan’s previous lawyer had planned to argue emotional distress
was behind last February’s killing of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan in the suburban Buffalo television station established to promote cultural understanding.

Prosecutors say the case has dragged on too long and they want the judge to bar any psychiatric defense.