MAYVILLE – Opening arguments of a trial for a New Jersey man accused of attempting to kill a world-renown author begin Monday.

This past week, a jury made up of 12 people and four alternates was seated for the trial of Hadi Matar. Matar is accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie a dozen times during an appearance at Chautauqua Institution in August, 2022.

Rushdie, the victim of the attack, is the author of several books, including “The Satanic Verses,” which was published in 1988. “The Satanic Verses” has been banned in Iran since it was published, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous. A year after it was banned, Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death.

This trial has been delayed multiple times.

The last time it was scheduled to go to trial was in October. It was delayed due to a request by the defense to have the trial moved out of Chautauqua County, which was later denied.

Before jury selection began at that time, both District Attorney Jason Schmidt and Public Defender Nathaniel Barone discussed the trial with The Post-Journal/OBSERVER.

Schdmit said in October he was just focusing on the crime. “This entire case, as far as the trial presentation is just simply about a stabbing event,” he said.

Schmidt has been a prosecutor for nine years and 15 years of criminal defense work. He said this trial is the biggest case “in terms of notoriety” but in terms of complexity, he said it’s not too unusual. “Dealing with child homicide cases or even some of these non-homicide cases, like the sexual assault cases, to me those are much more challenging. To me, those are much more important to us here in Chautauqua County,” he said.

Barone has been the county’s public defender for 14 years. He does have some experience with high publicized trials.

Barone was involved with the “Lackawanna six,” a group of six Yemeni-American friends who pleaded guilty to charges of providing material support to al-Qaeda in December 2003, based on their having attended an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan together in the spring of 2001, before the attacks on 9/11 and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. He did some subcontracting in that court case.

In terms of the trial itself, Barone said in October that it was too early to know if his client will take the witness stand. “That decision is a fundamental right that the accused has to decide himself. What I do is I give my opinion, but that opinion won’t come until we see what kind of case is presented,” he said.

During the trial, Rushdie is expected to take the stand. “He has expressed a desire to tell his story,” Schmidt said previously.

Along with Rushdie, individuals who witnessed the attack, including staff and guests at the Institution, are expected to testify. Around a dozen people are expected to take the witness stand.

During jury selection, there has been additional security at the county courthouse and that’s expected to continue throughout the trial.

Once the county trial is complete, Barone said he and his client will be focusing on the federal charges.

An indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in Buffalo in July charged Matar with providing material support to a militant group overseas sometime between September 2020 and August 2022.