Lawyer-stabbing defendant must represent himself

Lowering the Bar is a wonderful source for the preposterous and humorous happenings in the legal workplace.  Here's an extended excerpt from a post earlier this month:

As you may recall, accused killer and total dick Josh Monson managed to get himself a mistrial and a new defense lawyer back in May after he poked his first lawyer in the neck with a pencil. Actually, I think the mistrial came after he poked the new lawyer in the neck with a pencil three days later, but it's not clear. Anyway, he poked his third lawyer with a pen yesterday, leading the judge to rule that he has now bagged his limit and will have to represent himself.

Unsurprisingly, the judge had previously ruled that Monson would not be allowed to have any writing utensils for this go-round, and although I assume they told No. 3 about his client's penchant for neck-stabbing he still made the mistake of leaving a pen within arm's reach. According to witnesses, Monson appeared to be going for the neck again, but missed and only scratched the lawyer's temple. His aim may have been thrown off by the electric stun device he was wearing, which an officer triggered when he saw Monson lunge...

Judge David Kurtz ruled that Monson has now forfeited his right to be represented by counsel, and that he will also be strapped to a special chair for the rest of the trial. Monson promptly complained about this, of course, saying it might give jurors the wrong impression.

There's no more appropriate photo to embed than the one used at the source.