Legal Commentary

Underpants Bomber Fires Attorneys, Wants to Represent Himself

By Jeralyn

Really bad move by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Detroit underpants bomber. He fired his public defenders today and told the court he will represent himself. The Court will appoint stand-by counsel.

Is he taking a page from the Zacarias Moussaoui playbook? If so, he should know it didn't work out too well for Moussaoui, who is serving life in prison.

Abdulmutallab asked the judge if he could plead guilty to just some counts. The answer, of course, is "no." And aside from the issue of guilt, there's the issue of sentencing. Federal sentencing requires professionals to navigate the guidelines and advocate for a below-guidelines or non-guideline sentence. No way will he be able to effectively do that himself. [More...]

Will the DOJ take pity on him and offer him a downward departure for his early confession/cooperation? While they may ask he be given something for his cooperation, it's unlikely to be significant, particularly if he insists on going to trial.

The Judge should order an independent counsel to consult with him before granting his request and explain the ramifications of his decision. If he doesn't trust his attorneys, he's not going to listen to them. But he might listen to a neutral defense lawyer who can clear up his misperceptions about the system.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on September 13, 2010 (boomark / email).