Missouri judge says: Represent yourself in court or plead guilty to save time

A person facing the possibility of losing their freedom has a right to an attorney — this is basic to American law. Anyone who watches television knows that.

But in Phelps County, Missouri, Judge John Beger pushed aside that idea, writing that people charged with some felonies could represent themselves to make things easier for the public defenders.

Stated in a matter of fact tone and handed down from the bench in Rolla last year, the suggestion came on the fourth page of an order responding to public defenders raising an alarm that the state was failing its poorest and most vulnerable citizens.

Beger said allowing people to proceed without an attorney could be “highly effective” in resolving cases.

Read more: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article237037159.html