On trial without a lawyer

There aren't too many people in the King County courtroom who seem particularly happy with a 24-year-old Kent man's decision to represent himself against charges that he killed his parents.

Certainly not the Superior Court judge who has repeatedly urged Neelesh Phadnis to reconsider his decision to represent himself. Not his former lawyer, who sits next to Phadnis and tries, usually in vain, to give counsel. Even Phadnis, who has no legal training, concedes he is "unhappy" and "shaky" about his situation. But he said he has been forced to defend himself because he has had "issues" with all four of the public defenders assigned to him since his arrest.

During opening statements yesterday in Phadnis' trial, Superior Court Judge Helen Halpert stopped court several times, and even recessed the jury once, while she re-explained some basic legal principles to Phadnis.

She has also admonished Phadnis that he's not to talk about things she has already decided are irrelevant to the case, not to argue with her once she has ruled, nor to interrupt people, talk directly to jurors or ask prosecutors for help.

Phadnis is accused of fatally shooting his parents, Ravindra and Surekha Phadnis, 53 and 49, respectively, on Aug. 24, 2002, in the family's Kent home. Prosecutors claim that he hoped to inherit his parents' money.

Phadnis claims that he was kidnapped by a gang of Samoans and blacks who beat, stabbed and tortured him and then killed his parents.

Police and prosecutors concede that Phadnis bore the marks of a serious assault when he was arrested, but they contend that Phadnis was beaten up by a group of his friends in retaliation for his attempts to set fire to one of their houses.

Prosecutor Angela Kaake said in her opening statement yesterday that Phadnis became angry when his friend, Roger Fualaau, took a gun from him in early 2002. In retaliation, Phadnis tried twice to set fire to Fualaau's home.

A few days before his parents' death, prosecutors said, Phadnis returned to the Fualaau home and confessed to setting the fires. Fualaau and some friends then beat him. Once that was done, the matter was considered closed, Kaake said, and Phadnis spent the next several days just hanging out at the Fualaau home. Kaake said witnesses will testify that Phadnis spoke of killing his parents during that time.

Last week, the judge said she had gone through the court record again and had again come to the conclusion that, despite the severity of the charges, Phadnis had a constitutional right to defend himself. The Sixth Amendment guarantees a person the right to have a defense attorney appointed, but also guarantees that the person can waive that right and represent himself.

Legal experts said that pro se representation can be a cause for an appeal to a higher court if the defendant can show that the decision to represent himself was not a knowing and intelligent one.

Court records show that Phadnis, who is charged with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder and could face life in prison if he is convicted, has had several mental evaluations that have all found him competent to make legal decisions.

Although Phadnis dismissed his most recent court-appointed attorney, David Roberson, the public defender remains on the case to assist Phadnis in his defense.

Halpert's affirmation of Phadnis' right to represent himself followed a dramatic day in court last week during jury selection, when several people in a roomful of prospective jurors loudly told Phadnis that he was "crazy" to defend himself.

"I think your deciding to be pro se is suicidal," said one man.

One woman said she didn't believe she could serve on the jury because she didn't know if justice could be served.

"I know he made that decision, but I can't help but think it was the wrong decision," she said. "I don't think he can get a fair trial. He just doesn't seem to know what he's doing, the poor boy. "

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com