Posted on 08/14/2004 5:41:47 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
22-year-old accused of shooting police says he'll represent himself.
Ishmael Salahud-Din, 22, the man accused of shooting three police officers at an apartment complex in November and fleeing, is without an attorney as of Friday and wants to keep it that way.
His defense attorney, Scott McCrum, filed a motion to withdraw representation in Judge Nanette Hasette's 28th District Court. Salahud-Din has asked Hasette for permission to represent himself in court.
Salahud-Din was indicted in December 2003 on five counts of attempted capital murder, one count of felony escape and one count of felony possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in connection with the shootings last year.
Hasette ordered a competency evaluation of Salahud-Din to determine whether he is fit to stand trial and to represent himself, which will be completed in the next 30 days.
Salahud-Din addressed the judge and said, "I'm pretty aware of what's going on here. I don't need representation."
Hasette said she would make that determination pending the results of his evaluation.
McCrum's motion follows Salahud-Din's handwritten letter to Judge Hasette, saying that he "fired my lawyer and will be now representing myself and will not except (sic) this decision to be overruled by you Ms. Hasset (sic) "
McCrum would not go into detail about why Salahud-Din no longer wanted his representation.
"It's not unusual for communication to breakdown between a client and his attorney," McCrum said. "What is unusual is a defendant wanting to continue without representation whatsoever."
The letter, dated July 12, was received by the court Aug. 6. Salahud-Din said he would "seek criminal charges against all of you."
District Attorney Carlos Valdez said he's concerned the timing of the competency evaluation could interfere with the trial date set for Sept. 20. Salauhud-Din already has served more than 200 days in jail.
If convicted, Salahud-Din could face five to 99 years or life in prison and a fine as much as $10,000 for each charge of attempted capital murder, and two to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine on the escape and possession charges, authorities said. Salahud-Din has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Contact Diane S. Morales at 886-3758 or HYPERLINK mailto:moralesd@caller.com moralesd@caller.com
Or is it the other way around?
Among other things, he has delusions of grandeur, naming himself after Saladin.
After he gets convicted, he will probably argue on appeal that he had incompetent counsel.
Nah, he'll be OK. He's seen at least six Matlocks and knows how to play the race card so, I think he's qualified.
Hoping for a insane plea AFTER the trial since it is "da man's" fault when he gets convicted to DIE!
Maybe he's just planning to confess, save everyone the trouble of trying him and throw himself on the mercy of the court. Wouldn't need a lawyer under those circumstances.
If he's a convert to islam only sharia law means anything. By self-defence a muslim shows he refuses to acknowledge our legal system. Even when convicted, sitting behind bars, they maintain innocence...because we are corrupt, indidels, (kuffar ) not doing allah's work. And allah's work takes many forms. Killing police and selling drugs is also jihad.
I live in Oz. We are not very PC, are we?
"The letter, dated July 12, was received by the court Aug. 6. Salahud-Din said he would "seek criminal charges against all of you."
"Salahud-Din has pleaded not guilty to all charges."
What's his real name.
Mud.
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