As a Prosecutor in Los Angeles, I always hated it when a defendant decided to represent himself or herself. They had that right, but all it did was delay things, and it all but guaranteed that they would be convicted. As an example, I had a case in the San Fernando Valley of two Arian Brotherhood gang members who were charged with one count of armed robbery of a pharmacy. There was another case pending against them in downtown LA that had ten counts of robbery, so to drag things out, they insisted on doing the single count case first. Just as the jury selection was about to begin in the case, to stall things out, they fired their attorneys and demanded to represent themselves. The judge obliged them, and fifty potential jurors were brought into the courtroom to be questioned for selection.

One of these two guys was the obvious leader. His partner was just along for the ride. This alpha male had no idea what he was doing, and it soon became apparent that they were representing themselves just to kill time and to avoid for as long as possible being sent to the State Prison system. He would interrupt the proceedings periodically to make stupid motions: things like private transportation by the Sheriff’s to the courthouse, more comfortable chairs, removal of the leg chains to enable him to move around the courtroom. The judge actually granted that last request, but it was short-lived because the defendant decided without permission to get up and walk across the courtroom to get a drink from a drinking fountain during the juror questioning. The Sheriff’s rushed him, took him back to his chair, and the judge quickly came to his senses. I guess he slowly began to realize that the defendants were flight risks, and to prevent their possible escape attempt, he ordered the chains to be put back on.

Each side was allowed to excuse a specified number of potential jurors, and to drag things out, the two AB’s used all of their challenges. I still had all of mine, so I was in the process of shaping the jury with my challenges. I replace one, and the new one chosen was a very attractive young woman in her early thirties. The Alpha AB got up to ask her questions, and the conversation between them went this way:

AB: Do you work?

Juror: Yes. I’m a secretary with the FBI.

AB: (Shocked look). Does the FBI maintain a file of wanted posters?

Juror: Yes, we sure do.

AB: Oh? So did you ever see me in one of the wanted posters?

Juror: I generally don’t look at the wanted posters, but you can bet the farm that I’ll be going through them just as soon as I get back to the office.

The entire jury laughed, and it was pretty obvious to everyone in the courtroom that the verdict was now a foregone conclusion. After a couple of days of evidence, both of the ABs were quickly convicted.

I have told you about this experience of mine to highlight a current case with an unusual twist. A former Laguna Beach man, John Arthur Walthall, scammed an elderly couple into investing $5.5 million dollars into his proposed business. He claimed that he could extract gold from abandoned mines. Of course, he used all the money invested by the couple for his own purposes, and when a jury convicted him, Federal District Judge Andrew Guilford sentenced him to 14 years in prison. While Mr. Walthall was behind bars in Lompoc, California, he conspired with two inmates to kidnap the Judge in order to force him to exonerate Walthall. Of course, the two inmates immediately informed the FBI of Walthall’s plan, (you just can’t trust those other inmates), and charges were quickly brought against him.

During the subsequent investigation, the evidence showed that Walthall planned to torture the Judge and shred him in a wood-chipper.

Walthall claimed during the trial that his defense attorney was conspiring to send him to die in prison, so he wanted to represent himself. But his antics during the court appearances convinced the Judge that Walthall was not capable of presenting his own defense.

He was tried in 2016 for this conspiracy to kidnap and murder the Judge, and two psychologists testified that he was competent enough to stand trial, but not competent enough to represent himself. Walthall was subsequently convicted and sentenced 20 additional years on top of the initial 14.

The 9th Circuit Appellate Court has just decided that his conviction on conspiring to kidnap and wood-chip Judge Guilford must be overturned. Saying that Walthall’s lack of legal knowledge is not grounds enough to deny a person’s right to self-representation, the court went on to say that once the court determined that Walthall was competent to stand trial, they erred by not making further inquiry to support findings concerning Walthall’s ability to represent himself.

My opinion? Okay, I get the technicalities involved, and I suppose in the abstract that a record should have been made concerning an evaluation of Walthall’s ability to represent himself, but it occurs to me that common sense would dictate that anyone who would attempt to recruit two inmates in prison in a scheme to kidnap a federal judge and put him in a wood-chipper has to be, hands down, the stupidest human being on this planet.

Of course, the two inmates are going to run to the FBI and disclose the scheme. They want a break if they can get it on their own cases And no judge in his right mind assigned to sit on the criminal trial of this moron is going to agree to let him represent himself. The charges themselves, as the embodiment of the facts that were presented by the prosecution, would convince any rational human being that Walthall has the IQ of a fence post. If you’re going to target a federal judge, you have got to expect the wrath of the entire legal justice system will come down on you like rain in a typhoon. If you let a guy that brain deficient represent himself, the next appeal from him (after his likely conviction), would certainly be a challenge claiming that he was too incompetent to represent himself.

Let me know if you like these stories, or if you have any comments about the way our criminal justice system functions.