ELIZABETH, New Jersey – Illness has forced a sudden delay in the start of the divorce trial of former New Jersey governor James McGreevey and his estranged wife Dina Matos McGreevey. Court officials have told In Session that there will be no new negotiations today.

On Monday, talks between the couple broke down, forcing the trial. Dina Matos McGreevey was already wearing her dark sunglasses when she stepped out of the elevator with her attorney, John Post and left through the back door of the courthouse here in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The smile on her face didn’t waver, and just minutes later we learned things were not on track for a settlement in the second next phase of the couple’s divorce trial.

Jim McGreevey was already gone when his attorney, Stephen Haller, told the media here the case will now proceed to an open trial with witnesses…the first being the former governor himself. Hallar said that absolutely no progress was made on the issues of child support, alimony and equitable distribution of assets and liabilities. He went on to say these financial issues are more contentious than the child custody phase, which the couple finally agreed on late last week. That settlement is sealed.

Matos McGreevey is asking for child support and alimony along with damages in the amount of approximately $600,000, to compensate for the lifestyle she says she lost in her early exit as first lady of the Garden State. She’s also claiming fraud, because she says the former governor induced her to marry him only to further his political career when he fully knew he was homosexual.

Haller said he believes the trial will last two weeks, and also said there is almost no doubt the fraud claim, which will be addressed separately, will end up at trial. In Session’s cameras are in the courtroom, and we will bring you live action as soon as it starts.

–Jean Casarez, In Session correspondent

SEATTLE, Washington – “The spirit of God took control of me.”

That’s what Naveed Haq told defense expert witness and psychiatrist Dr. James Missett about the shooting at the Jewish Federation, during one of their conversations: “It was his belief his trigger finger was being moved, because he couldn’t stop,” said Missett.

While Haq felt distant and surreal during the event, he did notice his aim was “incredibly accurate”- another sign of divine sponsorship in his effort to make a point.

Haq’s defense team is claiming he was insane when he shot and killed one person and wounded five others on July 26, 2006.

–In Session staff

ELIZABETH, New Jersey – Developing now: The divorce case of James McGreevey and his estranged wife Dina Matos McGreevey is headed for the courtroom.

Attorney Stephen Haller has just told media gathered outside the Union County Courthouse that both sides have suspended talks over financial matters and the judge has scheduled the trial to begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET.

Haller says he’ll call his client, the former New Jersey governor, as the first witness. Stay tuned to In Session, we’ll broadcast the proceedings live.

–Jean Casarez, In Session correspondent

SEATTLE, Washington -- Naveed Haq was taking a prescription drug known to induce homicidal ideas on rare occasions. The disclosure came Thursday as attorneys for the 32-year-old presented their insanity defense for Haq’s actions on July 28, 2006. Haq is accused of fatally shooting one woman and wounding five others at the Jewish Federation of Seattle.

Defense expert Dr. Robert Julien testified Haq, who has a history of mental illness, was prescribed Effexor in July 2005 to help control his depression. The drug, however, is an anti-depressant that is not government-approved for treating bipolar depression – a condition Haq had been diagnosed as having since 1996.

“The incident may well not have occurred had lithium or other diagnosis and treatment with anti-psychotic drugs been continued,” Julien said. Haq was taken off lithium earlier in July 2005 because he complained of tremors, a common side affect of the mood stabilizing drug. Julien, an anesthesiologist and psychopharmacologist, studies how drugs affect the brain and behaviors.

Another doctor testified Haq recognized he had mood disorders beginning in the seventh grade – a sign of bipolar disorder and not schizoaffective disorder. Dr. James Missett explained that bipolar disorders are most likely to present themselves as depression in teenagers. Haq had told Missett he would experience crying or rage for no reason, saying “I would wake up and ask myself what kind of day am I going to have today?”

Dr. James Missett said the symptoms persisted and increased as Haq grew older but that Haq did not tell anyone until he was in dental school at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was subsequently diagnosed as bipolar. According to Missett, medical reports indicate Haq complained he heard voices that would tell him to do violent things, and had hallucinations of people whose bodies would appear to fade and glow. Significant, Missett said, because Haq also later reported “his perception of his own body glowing at the Jewish Federation.”

–In Session staff

SEATTLE, Washington – Jurors in the trial of Naveed Haq learned more details Wednesday about the defendant’s mental state in the years, days before, and possibly during the time he opened fire at the Jewish Federation of Seattle.

Under direct examination by defense attorney Wes Richards, Dr. James Missett, a forensic psychiatrist, testified the severity of Haq’s mental illness “is extraordinarily severe, about as severe as I’ve seen in anybody.”

Missett spent most of the day linking characteristics of bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder with Haq’s history of mental illness. Missett previously testified Haq was unable to tell right from wrong when he killed one woman and wounded five others at the Jewish Federation on July 28, 2006 because he suffers from a bipolar disorder with psychotic features. Haq’s lawyers contend Haq was insane and had a diminished capacity at the time of the shootings.

According to medical records, the 32-year-old first began experiencing mental health problems when he was in high school and was diagnosed as having a bipolar disorder in 1996 while in dental school. Over the next 10 years, Haq experienced delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, depression, mood swings and tried to take his own life. He was treated with various drugs but thought lithium best helped him control his behaviors and moods.

Missett told jurors the severity of Haq’s symptoms increased dramatically in July 2005 after he had been taken off of lithium.

Jurors also heard from a man who first met Haq through a mutual friend in 2004. Like the previous witnesses who had interacted with Haq before July 28, 2006, Kelly Turner portrayed Haq as an unstable individual.

Kelly described Haq as someone who could not keep a job and recalled Haq walking out of a telemarketing job selling ballpoint pens on his first day on the job. “He thought the sales manager was watching him, looking funny at him, standing behind him, and talking about him behind his back.” Turner said Haq also seemed to have “little man syndrome” because he tended to overreact to situations by shouting loudly and using vulgarities.

–In Session staff

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

SEATTLE, Washington – The leader of the men’s group at Word of Faith testified Monday at the trial of Naveed Haq. Albert Montelongo said Naveed Haq attended the one thousand-strong non-denominational church in Kennewick, WA for four or five months starting in late 2005. Haq found Christianity to be a loving religion, said Montelongo, and was baptized in the church.

One of the defendant’s treating psychiatrists told jurors the drug lithium is “the cornerstone for treatment of the whole bipolar spectrum.” (The defense, of course, points to the fact that Naveed Haq was taken off this medication as one of the contributing factors to his actions on July 28, 2006.) “If you take the lithium away,” said the doctor, “then things will start to unravel very quickly.”

Haq’s father testified earlier in the day his son made a request the evening before the rampage; “I want to be admitted voluntarily,” Mian Haq said his son told him. “I am going to have a relapse.”

Haq, a 30-year-old Muslim American, is accused of killing one woman and wounding five others in an attack at the Jewish Federation.

–In Session staff

NEW YORK — Here’s a case you may want to pay attention to. Beginning Tuesday, the divorce battle between former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey and his wife, Dina Matos McGreevey heads to the courtroom. The couple was married for about 4 years with a young daughter when McGreevey came out in a 2004 press conference, saying he was a “gay American.” That breaking news was not the only bombshell. The then-governor admitted to having an affair with one of his male staff members.

A Union County, New Jersey family court judge has basically begged the couple repeatedly to settle the matter out of court without success. So now a very public trial is set to begin. Some of the issues to be litigated are: child custody, financial support and fraud.

Although the first part of the case, concerning child custody and parenting, will be closed, the remainder of the trial will be open to the public for all to hear exactly what went on inside the walls of the New Jersey governor’s mansion.

Matos McGreevey is asking for $600,000 to compensate for the lifestyle she would have led as first lady of New Jersey if her husband had completed his term. Additionally, McGreevey’s wife has filed a claim of fraud, claiming that the former governor married her so he could achieve his political dreams as a straight husband and father.

McGreevey’s lawyers want to call to the stand a man by the name of Ted Pedersen. He is a former driver of the McGreeveys who says he engaged in sexual romps with the couple during their courtship and marriage. Jim McGreevey wants to use this testimony to try and prove his wife knew he was attracted to men even before they married and that she was not defrauded regarding his sexual orientation.

According to a legal brief written by McGreevey’s counsel, the former governor will testify. “Mr. Pedersen’s testimony will be corroborated by the testimony of the plaintiff.” Matos McGreevey denies the trysts ever occurred.

In Session will be on the ground covering this case. We’ll see you in New Jersey.

– Jean Casarez, In Session correspondent

SEATTLE, Washington – We got rare glimpses of emotion from the defendant Thursday, as he smiled at his brother’s account of Haq’s ideas for how to appeal to women, and chuckled at a joke by his father – before returning to the distant, despondent appearance Haq has had throughout the trial, sitting perfectly still, and blinking slowly.

Haq’s mother also showed a new side, as the demure woman became angry at Erin Ehlert’s questions, and was allowed to have her say, uninterrupted. “He’s a very compassionate, sensitive person,” said the mother. “I can not believe in my heart that he did the things you are telling me.”

As for Haq’s religious affiliation, several witnesses testified Haq saw the religion of Islam as too restrictive, even making a show of eating in front of his fasting family members during Ramadan. Instead, he turned to a Christian church with a “more welcoming” reception and spontaneous worship. But, those who know Haq suspected this, too, was a fleeting interest for his troubled mind.

“If this is what gives you peace and consolation, fine,” his father told him. “But you have a habit; you start a thing and after a month it will fizzle out.”

– In Session staff 

NEW YORK — Uma Thurman is starring in a production here today that I’m sure she’d rather not have listed on her credits. She will be the star witness in the trial of a man charged with stalking her for more than a year.

As frightening as the idea of a stalker is, especially to celebrities, the case raises some interesting issues about the boundaries of personal liberties.

The prosecution claims that Jack Jordan became obsessed with Thurman and engaged in a campaign of stalking that included numerous emails sent to the actress’ father, a professor at Columbia University, professing his love for her. It progressed to repeated efforts to contact her directly, including leaving poems and letters at her home and attempting to see her at movie shoot locations.

Sounds pretty scary.

But the defense claims that Jordan is not a deranged and threatening stalker; rather, he is an old-fashioned romantic who has fallen for the beautiful and talented actress and is simply trying, through his poems and letters, to sweep her off her feet. At worst, claims Jordan’s lawyer, he is a man who needs some psychiatric help, but certainly not jail.

We hear celebrities often decrying the loss of their privacy, even though the more thoughtful of that select and entitled breed realize that some loss of privacy represents the wages for their celebrity.

But just how much of that privacy must they give up? And what sort of boundaries should be erected by the law to protect them from the frightening — or the merely over zealous — fans who seek to get up close and personal with the stars?

That’s the question that will be answered, at least for Uma Thurman, in a small courtroom in New York, after her starring role today.

– Jack Ford, In Session anchor