What do you do if you want a new lawyer and the judge won’t let you have one?
This is the dilemma Wuesi McGowan – a home invasion robbery suspect – faced during his criminal trial.
Mr. McGowan had requested that San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser remove his public defender, Jeffrey Martin, from his case. Judge Fraser – who had previously denied an earlier motion by Mr. McGowan to let him represent himself – refused.
Fortunately for bloggers everywhere, Mr. McGowan came up with an innovative – and ultimately successful, albeit pretty gross – solution to his problem.
During a mid-morning break in his trial, Mr. McGowan smeared feces on his lawyer’s face and hair.
For good measure, he threw some feces at the jurors too.
Needless to say, Jeffrey Martin is no longer Mr. McGowan’s attorney.
It may also be worth mentioning (i.e., so nobody attacks someone with feces in a courtroom and then says, “Joe Stanganelli told me to do it!”) that Judge Fraser has issued a mistrial and quadrupled Mr. McGowan’s bail because of this incident. Mr. McGowan could also face assault charges for this, er, foul attack.
It goes without saying that if someone (other than a baby) has flung feces at you, you may want to contact a lawyer. And take a shower.
- Joe Stanganelli, Esq.
Beacon Hill Law
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February 18, 2009 at 06:46
Hi Joe
I’m reminded of the McCartney divorce, when Heather Mills-McCartney decided to dump a large quantity of water over her lawyers head….. Everyone universally agreed that the “wet-look” suited this particular lawyer a heck of a lot better, but I’m pretty sure the lawyer was also grateful Ms Mills hasn’t heard of this case!
Best regards
Peter