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I already know about the possible folly for doing this, so my question is not how wise would this be, but rather:

In some criminal trials, defendants have multiple attorneys working the case. In OJ Simpson's I believe at one time it was 7 with 5 on the table (not sure).

Is it possible to be pro se and represent yourself at trial with the ability to, for instance, raise objections at trial, and also be represented by one or more attorneys?

Would the defendant also need to "register as counsel" as attorneys do prior?

ohwilleke
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mark b
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2 Answers2

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This is not possible, simply as a matter of definitions and legal terminology. Someone who is "represented by one or more attorneys" is by definition not pro se which means representing yourself without an attorney.

There are very rare instances in criminal trials involving serious consequences in which a pro se defendant is allowed to have an attorney advisor who does not represent them in court in an agency capacity, but, first, people who do that almost always lose and are almost always mentally ill (although not necessarily eligible for an insanity defense), and second, because courts generally don't allow this in any other circumstance (at least in court).

The concept of getting advice from an attorney without having full fledged representation is called a "limited representation" and the law regarding limited representations more generally varies greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and even between different courts in the same place.

For example, Colorado's state courts and Colorado's federal courts have different rules for limited representations.

ohwilleke
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Is it possible to be pro se and represent yourself at trial with the ability to, for instance, raise objections at trial, and also be represented by one or more attorneys?

Yes, at least in some jurisdictions. One recent example from Michigan is (civil case) Lakin v. Rund, 896 N.W.2d 76 (2016). This is also known as "hybrid representation".

feetwet
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Iñaki Viggers
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