(McAllen, TX) Saying there’s always one who thinks they know better, public defender Chad Rees could only watch from the sidelines today as his two-year-old client insisted on conducting his own defense before an immigration judge.
“Somehow he thinks he can mount a better defense than someone who’s been to law school for it.”
Rees says he’s noticed an increasing number of his clients stubbornly ignoring his instructions to maintain their right to silence and let him handle the proceedings since he started representing people in ICE custody.
“You try to tell them that they don’t know the relevant case law or their brain isn’t developed enough to construct a full sentence, but do they listen? Not this one!”
The experienced attorney stood by helplessly as his client dominated proceedings with an enthusiastic but legally flimsy defense that consisted of screaming as loud as possible for extended periods.
“I’ll admit that after 20 minutes I could see he was starting to sway some of the people in the room. As a legal strategy, it might just work!”
Bawling.
corrected – thanks