An evidence hearing was held in Chautauqua County Court Wednesday for 24-year-old Hadi Matar, who is accused of attacking author Salman Rushdie.

The judge granted the prosecution another 60 days to review the material and share with the defense.

The judge also granted an order of protection to conceal the identities of witnesses from Matar, which Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt requested. Chautauqua County Chief Public Defender Ned Barone, however, plans to appeal that protective order.

“We're looking to make sure the integrity of the case is preserved,” said Schmidt. “There are constitutional rights on each side … it's our job to present our case and that includes witnesses, and in order to do that, we felt it was appropriate in this situation to have that protective order in place.”

"So I've made a request for the minutes of the transcript from the hearing, and I'll also ask for an unsealing of the record for purposes of the appeal, so that's something that's going to be filed immediately,” said Barone.  

Matar is accused of stabbing Rushdie on stage as the author was about to give a lecture at Chautauqua Institution last month.

The New Jersey resident is being charged with second-degree assault and second-degree attempted murder.

His next court date is in November.