A murder suspect who insists on representing himself might have a lawyer forced on him anyway because he either can't or won't control himself in the courtroom, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson said Friday, after having the ranting and raving defendant removed from a pretrial hearing.
Parnell May's continuous angry outbursts, his rambling diatribes and repeated arguments with witnesses and the judge forced Johnson to prematurely end May's first-degree murder trial in January. Bailiffs had to pull the shouting 42-year-old defendant from the courtroom then as shocked jurors, some in tears, were escorted out a separate exit.
Friday's hearing, lasting three hours, ended similarly with May being removed from court because of his constant interruptions.
"Thank y'all for your evil decisions that you done," he shouted as the bailiff pulled him out of the room.
He vehemently does not want a lawyer. He made that point often and loudly.
"Let me show my facts, and I guarantee you that people with rational minds will see I didn't kill my girlfriend," May said. "I'm never going to accept anyone who doesn't love me like I love myself. Don't force someone on me."
He'll find out next week if he's getting an attorney. Criminal defendants have a right to represent themselves, but not to disrupt proceedings, senior deputy prosecutor Marianne Satterfield said. She told the judge he could appoint a lawyer who would monitor the trial and be available if May needed someone to consult with.
More importantly, that lawyer could take over representing May at trial if he continues to be disruptive and gets ejected, the prosecutor said.
The judge said he's considering that option, but also whether to require May to submit to another mental examination. The judge said the defendant's constant and repeated diatribes have him concerned about whether May is competent to represent himself. May's already had one mental evaluation, with state doctors finding him competent last year.
"I'm not crazy," May told the judge. "I'm very intelligent."
The hearing was convened to consider the 85 handwritten motions May has filed over the past 4½ months. The judge began by warning May what he is risking by acting as his own attorney.
"You understand you're at a serious disadvantage," the judge said. "This could be disastrous for you."
Questioned by the judge about whether he could act appropriately in court, May promised that he would. He broke that promise six minutes later when he began arguing with the judge.
May did most of the talking during the hearing, ranting about a conspiracy to frame him, calling the judge "crooked," claiming the state Crime Laboratory was hiding evidence and accusing the lead investigator of framing him.
"I want justice to be served, and I want it served now," he said, his shackled arms flailing. "Y'all are still trying to put a rope around my neck and hang me. This is so evil of you people."
He kept interrupting the judge and kept launching into long monologues about the law and the case against him. May insists that his girlfriend was killed by the doctors who were trying to resuscitate her.
He is accused of beating his girlfriend Ann Marie Mireles to death at their home in December 2016. Photographs of her beaten body were found on her phone, which May was carrying when he was arrested.
The pictures were taken inside the residence, but her partially nude body was found by a neighbor on the front steps of the duplex. The couple had moved in three days earlier.
Authorities say Mireles was beaten so badly from head to toe that doctors could not count all of her injuries, which included broken ribs and a torn liver. Prosecutors said May used a metal pipe found in the couple's home.
Metro on 06/09/2018