People who have acted as their own attorney

Some legal jurisdictions permit defendants to act as their own attorneys. Recent studies have shown that four out of five such defendants in the United States are found guilty. Defendants often act as their own attorneys because they distrust lawyers or want to use their trials to make political points. This is a list of prominent cases in which defendants have served or are serving as their own attorneys.

• Ted Bundy acted as his own attorney at his trials for murder in Utah and Florida. He was executed in Florida in 1989.
• Colin Ferguson represented himself at his trial for murder in 1993. He was sentenced to six-life terms in prison.
• Dr. Jack Kevorkian defended himself unsuccessfully in Michigan in 1999 of second-degree murder in death of patient with Lou Gehrig's disease.
• Zacarias Moussaoui is currently defending himself at his trial for conspiring to commit the terrorist attacks on America. The outcome of this trial is pending.
• Slobodan Milošević, in front of ICTY, because he dismisses the tribunal as illegitimate.
• John Allen Muhammed, accused Beltway Sniper, briefly acted as his own attorney, but after just days returned to using lawyers.
• Vojislav Šešelj, in front of ICTY
• James A. Traficant Jr., a former U.S. representative from Ohio, defended himself at his trial for 10 counts of bribery, tax evasion and racketeering and was sentenced to serve eight years in prison.
• Ramzi Yousef, believed to be the mastermind behind the first World Trade Center attack.

Some people who have tried to assert their right to act as their own attorney have not been permitted to do so. These people include:

• Larry Flynt
• Charles Manson