Man Who Defended Self (in Court) Cites Incompetence (AP)

[Up2Late]

(This guy had just been released from the State Mental Hospital, so who's fault is this?)

Apr 6, 11:58 PM EDT

Man Who Defended Self Cites Incompetence

By TRUDY TYNAN
Associated Press Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Thomas P. Budnick says his lawyer's incompetence was to blame for his assault conviction. The funny thing is he was representing himself.

He took his case before the state Appeals Court on Wednesday, arguing that the trial judge never should have allowed Budnick to defend himself against charges of trying to poison a friend by lacing a bottle of beer with nitric acid.

Budnick once filed mining claims on Mars and threatened to sue NASA for trespassing. Such antics should have been enough to make the judge question his competence to waive counsel, his new court-appointed lawyer said. "This was a guy who had just come out of Bridgewater," said Linda Harvey, referring to the state mental hospital. Budnick was charged in 2002 with trying to poison friend Ryan Gauthier by spiking a 40-ounce bottle of beer.

Budnick, who claimed he had accidentally given Gauthier a bottle of acid he kept in his garage for cleaning his collection of meteorites, was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon and sentenced to two years in prison. But he was cleared of the more serious charge of attempted poisoning because the liquid spilled on Gauthier's leg and burned him before he could drink it.

(more at link above)

[shraby]

1. Just when you think you've seen it all. n/t

[mrbill]

2. the guy's got a good case.....

if there's any justice he will get a retrial.

[wellst0nev0ter]

3. Cue "Frivolous Lawsuit" Meme In 3. . .2. . .1. . .

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. Reminds me . .

.
.
.

A wealthy businessman, desperate to get to a meeting on short notice had to resort to driving as there were no available flights to his destination.

He rarely drove, but after some help from his staff, he managed to get directions, a travel map and a rented car.

Somehow, despite his staff's assistance, he found himself on a lonely road in the country.

Spotting what he thought was a mansion in the distance, he headed into the general direction down what seemed to be a rather unmaintained road.

His luck continued when "BAM", he hit a pothole and a flat tire resulted.

He managed to locate the spare tire hidden under the floor of the trunk of all places, and proceeded to follow the written instructions (thank gawd it had pictures) of how to change the tire.

HE neatly placed all the wheel nuts in the hubcap, but as he wheeled the spare to the side, he tripped over the hubcap spilling the wheel nuts into a drain grate at the curb, where all the nuts disappeared with a sickening splash . . .

"Hey mister .." he heard - nearly jumping out of his skin . .

He turned around and there was a man standing behind a chain-link fence. He hadn't noticed the fence, or the sign indicating that this was the grounds of a Psychiatric Hospital.

He decided to ignore the man while he tried to figure out what the heck he was going to do.

"Hey mister . ."

In his frustration and anger, the businessman fired back - "Shut the f**k UP!"

"Hey mister , , I can help you . ." the man persisted.

"How the f**k can you help me, locked up behind the fence n all?"

"Hey mister . .

take one wheel nut off of the other 3 wheels, drive slow to a gas station to get new ones."

The businessman, amazed and elated that his problem was solved, thanked the man profusely.

Then he turned around and approached the man directly asking -

"Hey, how come you're in an insane asylum?

That was a brilliant idea!"

"Hey mister . . " he drawled slowly

"I'm crazy . . ,

not STUPID!!"

:bounce:

[Up2Late]

12. Wow, that's the longest, most detailed version of that joke...

...that I've ever heard. Where did you find that version, or did you embellish it?

[ConcernedCanuk]

14. Embellished as I posted it - twas all from memory

.
.
.

That way my jokes are never the same,

and never come out too dry (hopefully)


AND

I was trying to make a point,

Although this guy may be crazy, lunatic, certifiably insane

doesn't mean that he doesn't know exactly what he's doing . .

[Up2Late]

15. I know, that's one of my favorite old jokes/wise stories

Not sure how I'd categorize it.

[ConcernedCanuk]

17. I get sideways glances sometimes because I use it

.
.
.

on an irregular basis -

sort of like an extended expletive

"I might be a little bit nuts, but I ain't feckin' stupid!"

sort of like a backward insult sometimes to someone that is irritating me with overly simple instructions,

or expecting me to believe some outrageous story

etc,

I find it to be an effective way of causing others to THINK for a nano-second or two :silly:

I modify the language/voice inflection to suit the situation

As for classifying it,

I'd say it was an anecdotal "sumthin or other" - the word escapes me

I suspect this guy in the story, aside from his "problems", is above average intelligence.

Well, he seems cleverer than some judges, no?

:shrug:

[Up2Late]

18. I think most people who are truly a genius, some people are...

...are going to think that he/she is totally crazy.

Speaking of that, I just recommended a web site to someone else that I bet you would like to, it run by some sort of evil genius from Finland, I think, check it out:

<http://homokaasu.org/>

This is one of my favorite pages there:

<http://homokaasu.org/gematriculator/>

or this one:

<http://homokaasu.org/doses/>

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

5. Hold on a second...

>Budnick was charged in 2002 with trying to poison friend Ryan Gauthier
>by spiking a 40-ounce bottle of beer.

This guy had friends?

[sandnsea]

7. Get in with the mars mining crowd early!

Probably where Bush got the idea.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

11. Where's Maggie Thatcher?

Someone's got to bust those damned martian mining unions. And Mars sounds like as good a place as any for Thatcher.

[truthisfreedom]

6. can you imagine how horrible that would have been had he drunk it?

my god, what a horror-movie way to die.

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. a FORTY ounce bottle of beer?

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.
.

yuck!

That'd be awful warm by the time you get to the bottom of that

What kind of beer can you get in a 40 ounces bottle??

and what's with Texas anyhoo?

"he finally persuaded Texas authorities to accept his astral mineral rights claims in 1984"


would that be enforceable??

Where was Junior in 1984 - hmmm?

From the article:

For more than 20 years, Budnick tried to file and peddle mining claims in such diverse places as George's Bank, the asteroid belt, Mars and the moons of Jupiter. After trying several states without success, he finally persuaded Texas authorities to accept his astral mineral rights claims in 1984.
________________________________

[Up2Late]

13. Colt 45 Malt Liquor, Schlitz Malt Liquor, Mickey Malt Liquor...

...mostly sold at Liquor and convenience stores and Gas Station in low income neighborhoods.

Also, "Old School" Rap Artists rapped about a "40" in some songs, that's what they were referring to.:evilgrin:

[Nay]

9. Just more proof that the person who represents himself in court has

a fool for a client.

[illflem]

10. People who later claim incompetence

after defending themselves is the reason most judges will require the defendant has an appointed real lawyer for consultation.

[zanne]

16. Reminds me of the guy who killed his parents...

then asked the court for mercy because he was an orphan.