SEATTLE, Washington — A psychiatrist who met with Naveed Haq four times since October 2006 testified at the Seattle trial Tuesday that he suffers from bipolar disorder with psychotic features. Dr. James Missett, an expert hired by the defense, said Haq has been mentally ill for at least a decade and was mentally ill in the time leading up to the shootings at the Jewish Federation of Seattle.

Haq is charged with killing one woman and wounding five others in a shooting at the Jewish Federation there. He faces life in prison if convicted of murder, kidnapping and malicious harrassment charges, Washington’s hate crime law. Haq is mounting an insanity defense.

Earlier in the day, Naveed Haq’s father said he spent the evening of July 27, 2006, one day before the shootings, with his son. Other than noticing that Naveed did not eat much at dinner, Mian Haq said he did not notice anything unusual about his son’s behavior or speech. He said Naveed “was in a good mood” and appeared to have more energy compared to days earlier when he “seemed really down” and “sluggish.”

Mian Haq also recalled trying to dissuade the defendant both that night and the next morning from going to Seattle. The elder Haq said he told his son he didn’t think it was a good idea because, among other things, every time Naveed would go, something bad would happen. “Either he would get a ticket or something would get stolen.”

Haq said he first learned his son was involved in the shooting at the Jewish Federation after friends told him that police had detained a Pakistani man in his 30s. Subsequently, another friend called to tell him the suspect was named Naveed Afzal Haq. “I thought there is only one Naveed Afzal Haq,” he said.

-In Session staff