Chris Lingwall

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Now, this one is a true story. Chris Lingwall was in the public defender’s office, and as many of you know I kind of have a fixation about a man representing himself in a jury trial. I just don’t think that it ought to be that way. I think the Supreme Court’s wrong, that’s from all that mess they started out in California. It’s a bad case; it’s always been a bad case, shouldn’t be doing that. But Lingwall was the lawyer that I had picked out to sit by the man at the counsel table and to advise him during the trial. And the guy was trying to prove that he was smart enough to try his own case. And Lingwall leaned over to him — in a loud voice so I could hear it on purpose — and says, “Brother, you’re making a bad mistake. That judge don’t think anybody but him is smart enough to represent a defendant in Dallas County.” Well, you know, that was — to me that was the worst put-down I ever had.