At first, the judge denied Hassan's request outright, relenting only after Hassan and the lawyer he wanted to replace persisted.
"He does have the right to steer his own ship," Erie County Court Judge Thomas Franczyk finally said, "even if, unwittingly, he steers it into an iceberg."
Hassan was convicted Monday of second-degree murder. During trial, he failed to convince jurors that he'd only decapitated his estranged wife after stabbing her dozens of times because she'd abused him for years and he was afraid of her.
Hassan, who was born in Pakistan and was known as Mo, fired three lawyers and replaced a fourth with himself, keeping the fourth as an adviser because he was required to by law. He joins the ranks of Washington, D.C., area sniper John Allen Muhammad, suicide doctor Jack Kevorkian, serial killer Ted Bundy, Long Island Rail Road massacre gunman Colin Ferguson, abortion doctor killer James Kopp and others who've failed to win acquittal after winning the right to self-defend, legal experts said.
Muzzammil Hassan Murder Trial
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