“Who Wrote That Up For You?” co-hosts Sonja Ebron and Debra Slone discuss cases in the news involving pro se criminal defendants. The case of Darrell Brooks, the man convicted of murder by driving a car through the Waukesha, Wisconsin Christmas parade, drew particular umbrage due to Brooks’ pro se defense of sovereign citizenship, the notion that the court lacked jurisdiction over him because he had never consented to it and the court’s spelling of his name was incorrect.
Sonja and Debra also discussed the case of Trevor Summers, the Florida man who kidnapped, raped, and attempted to murder his ex-wife, then fired defense counsel in the middle of his trial. His defense, despite a boatload of evidence to the contrary, was that his ex-wife consented and that no crimes had occurred. Both Brooks and Summers were quickly convicted by their respective juries and will spend the rest of their lives in prison. Pro se litigants – whether civil or criminal – were advised to use available legal counsel and to find legal support for the positions they take in court.
Read their Courtroom5 blog post on sovereign citizens.
Hear the full episode
Watch the full episode
For more on the need to fix U.S. courts, subscribe to “Who Wrote That Up For You?” wherever you listen to podcasts.
