Almost everybody agrees it’s a really, really dumb move for defendants to represent themselves in court. A murder case in Largo was the most recent example. And, yes, the defendant was convicted. First degree.
While self-lawyering is a legal right, it needs modification. At the very least, ill-prepared, unself-serving defendants should always be dressed in civilian garb–not orange jail scrubs–for all court appearances. Put it this way. The optics are prejudicially awful. Self-lawyered prisoners are wearing the uniform of the arrested and incarcerated in front of a jury. They graphically remind the jurors that they’re still in jail. Ostensibly for cause. Any presumption of innocence is, uh, presumptuous.