4 ms·
This was related to a criminal case. Threatening any kind of litigation or trying to defend yourself without an attorney puts you in the category of pro se liti
by owenmarshall 3y ago
This was related to a criminal case. Threatening any kind of litigation or trying to defend yourself without an attorney puts you in the category of pro se litigant, the territory of jailhouse appellants and sovereign citizens. Even if you are smart and right, the system has already decided you are crazy, stupid, or both. You’re screwed from the get go.
- hattmall 3y agoExcept it literally worked in this case.
- OhMeadhbh 3y agoin my experience, pro se works more often than owenmarshall implies, but probably less often than it should.
- krisoft 3y ago> in my experience Could you tell us more about the source of your experience please? > pro se works more often than owenmarshall implies, And there are very well documented cases where a pro se defendant gets themselves into bigger trouble.
- OhMeadhbh 3y agoCertainly not criminal, but I was on a county commission which put me in the position to watch people litigate pro se regarding land use suits in California. And I would occasionally be in court waiting for a final declaration (that for some reason had to be in the courtroom.) There were plenty of people who successfully defended themselves pro se, but I don't think I ever saw anything more exciting than someone bringing in documentation clarifying they weren't the owners of a property on which some crime occurred (apparently the county's GIS system is not the local sheriff / prosecutor's strong point.) I'm not trying to imply you should represent yourself on a felony case, but at least in California in the past, people have successfully had cases dismissed when they appeared in court, representing themselves with documentation the prosecutor should have looked at before filing the case.