Barbie
06-05-2003, 10:43 PM
IDIOT
Man who defended self in court loses appeal on basis he had bad lawyer (http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2003/06/03/102479-cp.html)
Man who defended self in court loses appeal on basis he had bad lawyer
TORONTO (CP) - It's well known that a man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client.
It's apparently less well known that when a fool springs for a lawyer to try to fix his own poor legal performance, it doesn't work. Clayton Gordon learned that the hard way recently while trying to get out of drug convictions imposed after a trial two years ago in which he represented himself. He took his case to Ontario's Court of Appeal claiming he had bad counsel and that the convictions for selling cocaine should be overturned.
The Appeal Court's three judges unanimously denied the appeal in a short written decision, saying Gordon couldn't be a victim of bad lawyering since he chose to be his own lawyer.
"Since the appellant chose to represent himself at trial, there is no merit to the argument that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel," stated the one-page ruling.
"The ineffective assistance cases have no application to a situation where an accused chooses to represent himself."
But that's not to say Gordon didn't put in a valiant effort. The appeal tribunal noted that his attempt to dismantle the Crown's case was coherent and to the point.
"While the appellant was not familiar with criminal procedure, he was clearly an intelligent person," said the ruling.
"He made the points he had to make in support of his position that the Crown had not proved that he was the seller of the drugs. Unfortunately for him, his arguments were not persuasive."
Gordon's sentence of seven months in jail stands.
Man who defended self in court loses appeal on basis he had bad lawyer (http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2003/06/03/102479-cp.html)
Man who defended self in court loses appeal on basis he had bad lawyer
TORONTO (CP) - It's well known that a man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client.
It's apparently less well known that when a fool springs for a lawyer to try to fix his own poor legal performance, it doesn't work. Clayton Gordon learned that the hard way recently while trying to get out of drug convictions imposed after a trial two years ago in which he represented himself. He took his case to Ontario's Court of Appeal claiming he had bad counsel and that the convictions for selling cocaine should be overturned.
The Appeal Court's three judges unanimously denied the appeal in a short written decision, saying Gordon couldn't be a victim of bad lawyering since he chose to be his own lawyer.
"Since the appellant chose to represent himself at trial, there is no merit to the argument that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel," stated the one-page ruling.
"The ineffective assistance cases have no application to a situation where an accused chooses to represent himself."
But that's not to say Gordon didn't put in a valiant effort. The appeal tribunal noted that his attempt to dismantle the Crown's case was coherent and to the point.
"While the appellant was not familiar with criminal procedure, he was clearly an intelligent person," said the ruling.
"He made the points he had to make in support of his position that the Crown had not proved that he was the seller of the drugs. Unfortunately for him, his arguments were not persuasive."
Gordon's sentence of seven months in jail stands.