In an unexpected turn of events, Hakim Muhammad, accused in the November 2009 murder of his wife Sheila Muhammad, took the stand on his own behalf during his trial Thursday, insisting he did not kill his wife.
Chief Public Defender Steven Purvis told Rockdale Superior Court Judge Sidney Nation that he had advised his client not to testify, and the proceedings were delayed for several minutes while Purvis and Muhammad moved to another part of the courtroom to confer. Muhammad did not change his mind.
When the trial resumed, Muhammad gave an account of the events on the morning of his wife's death. According to Muhammad, his wife had signed a lease and moved some of her belongings into a residence on Cochise Trail days before her murder, but that she had not been staying there overnight. Muhammad said that on the day of the crime, he and his wife had gone out to buy cigarettes, with her driving. Not long after leaving he realized he already had a pack. After they turned around, she dropped Muhammad off at their Cedar Lake home and drove over her new residence on Cochise Trail to retrieve a laptop computer and paperwork she had left there. Muhammad said he then fell asleep and woke up at 8:23 a.m. to find his wife still gone. Muhammad said he would have called his wife on his cell phone, but noticed that her purse was still in the bedroom and that his cell phone was not in its customary place because his wife had used it and put the phone in his pants pocket.
He then walked over to the nearby Cochise Trail house to check on her.Muhammad said that when he arrived at the house, he found the doors locked and threw pebbles at a bedroom window to get attention. When she did not respond, Muhammad said he decided to break out a window in the rear of the residence to get inside. He said he then found her lifeless body on the floor.
He did not explain why he removed his wife's wedding ring and put it in his pocket.
"I was in shock," Muhammad said. "I didn't know what to do."Muhammad said he saw deputies and asked them for help before he was taken into custody. "I felt like I had failed her," Muhammad said.
During his cross-examination, prosecutor Kirk Thomas asked Muhammad about a pair of incidents reported by Sheila Muhammad's 10-year-old son Javonte in which Muhammad allegedly shoved or hit his wife.
"I never put my hands on her," Muhammad said. "I don't know where he got that from."
Thomas also asked Muhammad about a statement he made during interviews on the day of the murder in which Muhammad said his wife had attacked him, but Muhammad said he was referring to earlier incidents and not the day of the crime.
Thomas questioned Muhammad about why his wife would sign her lease as Sheila Duhon and left off her married name and why she left home on the morning of the murder without her purse, wallet or her driver's license even though she was going to be driving, but Muhammad said that wasn't unusual. Thomas also questioned why a door that was locked when Muhammad arrived appeared to be unlocked when deputies entered the house, but Muhammad had no explanation. When asked why the 911 call from a neighbor that resulted in deputies being sent to the house occurred at 7:41 a.m. Muhammad explained that he had not reset his watch since the change from daylight savings time to standard time the previous weekend.
Thomas asked Muhammad why he went into the basement and did not call for help, but Muhammad said he knew his wife was deceased soon after he found her.
When Thomas asked Muhammad how managed to stay calm under the circumstances, Muhammad said "there was no need to get hysterical. If I had yelled at the officer, I probably would have got shot."
Asked if he was the last person to see his wife alive, Muhammad said: "Obviously the last person to see her alive was the one who killed her."
The evidentiary portion of the trial closed after Muhammad's testimony, and Judge Nation said the trial would resume at 9:30 a.m. Friday, likely with closing arguments. The jury is expected to begin its deliberations some time Friday morning.
