Hard To Get Along With Defendant Forfeited Right To Counsel

A criminal defendant forfeited his right to appointed counsel when he screamed “You’re an idiot” at one of his attorneys at a court proceeding and “then managed to drive off his next attorney by engaging in behavior the [judge] deemed ‘abusive,’ ” according to a decision of the Delaware Supreme Court.

The criminal charges involved the defendant’s threat to “stick a pickax” in his neighbor.

The trial court found that the defendant had “engaged in sufficiently egregious activity to forfeit his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.” (Mike Frisch)