Plea is not guilty in SUV rampage

Mohammed Taheri-Azar had vowed in statements to the media to plead guilty

HILLSBOROUGH -- The man accused of driving an SUV into nine people at UNC-Chapel Hill in March pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges Wednesday.

But that doesn't mean Mohammed Taheri-Azar's previous statements saying he wanted to avenge Muslim deaths can't be used against him, said Orange-Chatham District Attorney Jim Woodall.

Woodall said he expects to subpoena people who received letters from Taheri-Azar, who is thought to have written dozens of letters to media outlets and law enforcement agencies.

In some of those letters, including to The News & Observer, Taheri-Azar said he planned to plead guilty. He has made similar statements in court.

"Public statements can be entered as evidence," Woodall said, adding he likely would subpoena some members of the media.

Move expected

In a hearing that lasted less than three minutes, Taheri-Azar, 23, formally pleaded not guilty in Orange County Superior Court to nine counts of attempted first-degree murder and nine counts of felonious assault.

His plea, though expected, runs counter to previous public statements he has made about the day he drove a rented sport utility vehicle through the Pit, a popular student gathering place, and hit nine people. No one was injured seriously enough to require overnight hospitalization.

Minutes after the lunchtime incident March 3, Taheri-Azar called 911 to turn himself in. In his letters, he said he aimed to kill people in the name of Allah and to avenge the United States' treatment of Muslims in the Middle East.

At one point, he told a judge he planned to plead guilty.

Taheri-Azar is being held at Raleigh's Central Prison in lieu of $5.5 million bail.

Most defendants initially enter a plea of not guilty, but that doesn't mean the case will go to trial, Woodall said.

The case is running several months behind schedule, mostly because Taheri-Azar initially wanted to represent himself and didn't cooperate with his court-appointed attorney, James Williams.

After a judge told Taheri-Azar that the only way he could represent himself was if he got a psychological evaluation, Taheri-Azar said he would prefer to have an attorney instead.

Over time, Taheri-Azar has become more cooperative with his attorney, both have said in court.

Taheri-Azar, a native of Iran, was raised in the Charlotte area.

His next court appearance is scheduled for late March.