Judge Overrules Terror Suspect’s Request on Evidence (underwear bomber) [View All]

Source: The New York Times

DETROIT — Overruling the wishes of a Nigerian man accused of trying to use explosives in his underwear to blow up a transcontinental airliner over Detroit last Christmas, a federal judge on Thursday ordered that the man’s standby lawyer receive documents related to the prosecution’s case. The defendant, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, also waived his right to a speedy trial.

Earlier at the hearing in Federal District Court here, Mr. Abdulmutallab told Judge Nancy G. Edmonds that he wanted to continue representing himself and that he did not want the lawyer appointed by the court to advise him to receive discovery documents.

Mr. Abdulmutallab dropped his court-appointed lawyers on Sept. 13, citing poor representation, and signaled the possibility that he might plead guilty to some of the charges. Another pretrial hearing is scheduled for Jan. 12.

Anthony Chambers, the lawyer appointed to advise Mr. Abdulmutallab, 23, told the judge that he had had multiple conversations with the defendant. In answers to questions from Judge Edmonds, the slight, soft-spoken Mr. Abdulmutallab said he was fluent in English, needed no translator and understood the charges against him, which include attempted murder and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction to kill the nearly 300 people on Northwest Flight 253, bound for Detroit from Amsterdam.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/us/15bomber.html