UNC Hit-And-Run Suspect Wants Case Over 'As Early As Possible'

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — A man accused of plowing a sport utility vehicle into a crowd of people at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill told a judge Tuesday that he wants to speed up the judicial process.

"Personally, Your Honor, I'd like to get this whole court-trial over with as early as possible," Mohammed Taheri-azar said.

The judge scheduled Taheri-azar's next court appearance for Jan. 24, when Taheri-azar is expected to enter a plea in the March 3 attack in which nine people were injured.

"And if Jan. 24 is the earliest possible next date to continue this trial, I think that's fair and reasonable," Taheri-azar said.

Taheri-azar's lawyer also requested copies of FBI interviews with Taheri-azar's family after the incident.

Taheri-azar, a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, is charged with nine counts of attempted murder and nine counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

In letters to UNC-Chapel Hill's student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, Taheri-azar wrote that he carried out the attack to get back at "American taxpayers and their government" for the United States' role in the killing Muslims around the world. He also wrote that he felt "no remorse" for steering the SUV through the Pit.

Taheri-azar was expected to enter a plea last month in connection with the attacks, but that court appearance was continued.