Accused cop killer wants to be his own lawyer
2:38 pm, January 24th, 2013
A man who has publicly admitted to killing one police officer and shooting another has fired his defense lawyers and asked a judge to allow him to represent himself in his death penalty trial, the Athens Banner Herald reports on onlineathens.com.
“Despite several public admissions to killing Senior Police Officer Elmer ‘Buddy’ Christian III and wounding SPO Tony Howard in March 2011, Jamie Hood pleaded not guilty to all charges during an arraignment two weeks ago in Clarke County Superior Court. A 70-count indictment also accused Hood of murdering an Athens man in December 2010,” the Banner Herald reports. Hood has fired two teams of lawyers appointed by the Georgia Capital Defender office after arguing with them and accusing one of being a drug addict.
Now, Athens-Clarke County District Attorney Ken Mauldin has asked the court to consider allowing the defendant to represent himself, citing a 2004 Georgia Supreme Court case in which a murder defendant’s conviction and death sentence were reversed because the trial judge refused his request to represent himself.
Contributor: Katheryn Hayes Tucker in Criminal Cases | subscribe to rss | 
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February 4th, 2013 at 2:23 pm
Maybe this is a ploy to further his upcoming insanity defense. However, it could be a case of over-esteem or narcissism.
March 10th, 2013 at 12:42 pm
I agree with the poster above. This is merely foreshadowing for an insanity defense. Does anyone have an update on this case?