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Jan 6th Insurrectionist Wants To Represent Himself During Trial, And He Spouts Sovereign Citizen BS. [1]
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Date: 2022-07-20
This just gives me a headache and makes me have flashbacks to my time as a failed high school teacher:
‘Let the Record Reflect I Have Repented of My Sins’: Youngest Defendant Charged in Jan. 6 Attack Wants to Represent Himself, Appears to Assert Sovereign Citizen Talking Points to Judge
Get ready, we are going down a rabbit hole.
Bruno Joseph Cua, a Georgia man who was 18 at the time he allegedly stormed the Capitol along with scores of other Donald Trump supporters angry over the results of the 2020 election, appeared before U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss on Tuesday. He indicated that he was considering representing himself, and also said that he wanted to settle the case — all while repeating what sounded a lot like “sovereign citizen” talking points.
Like what exactly were those talking points?
Good morning, Your Honor,” Cua said. “I’m here by special appearance, not a general appearance,” he continued, echoing fellow Jan. 6 defendant Pauline Bauer, who had memorably told the judge in her case, Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, that she was appearing in his court by “special divine appearance.” Those are fairly standard statements for followers of the “sovereign citizen” movement, which relies on conspiracy theories and misinformation to justify adherents’ apparent belief that they are exempt from U.S. law. During a back-and-forth between judge and defendant, Moss tried to clarify what Cua meant, to no avail. “I don’t know where you found this material, but I have no idea, frankly, what you’re talking about,” Moss eventually replied, after Cua repeated his “special appearance” statement. “Let me ask you a question: do you want to have a lawyer in this case, or do you want to represent yourself?” Cua repeated some of his talking points, and then asked: “What need is there for an attorney?” Moss told the defendant that if he wanted to represent himself, the judge would need to have a separate hearing in order to ensure that Cua was making the decision to go pro se knowingly and voluntarily, after having been informed of the risks.
You are not making much progress when a judge tells you, “I don’t understand what the hell you are talking about!” Judge Moss told this dummy that they would need a separate hearing for Cua wanting to represent himself. And Cua eventually responded,
“I’m not here to testify,” Cua said when Moss asked when he could appear in court. “How may I settle this today?”
This didn’t go over well with Judge Moss. As you can imagine, Moss lost patience with Cua’s non-answers to the judges questions. Cua was appearing by video from home, and the judge let him know that he would be arrested when he came to D.C. for a hearing if he didn’t start answering Moss’s questions. This seems to have gotten through this young idiots skull, so Cua finally agreed to a hearing next week.
Among the list of charges against Cua is assaulting a plain clothes cop with a baton.
This idiot is going to end up in prison for several years.
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/20/2111427/-Jan-6th-Insurrectionist-Wants-To-Represent-Himself-During-Trial-And-He-Spouts-Sovereign-Citizen-BS
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