Opinion
3:23-cr-94-BJB
04-05-2024
United States of America v. Thomas Gunter, et al.
ORDER
Benjamin Beaton, District Judge
Gunter has filed a pro se motion to dismiss the indictment, DN 76, despite being represented by counsel. Defendants of course enjoy a constitutional and statutory right to either represent themselves (proceed “pro se”) or be represented by counsel. But they have no right to do both: the law does not entitle defendants to “hybrid representation” in which defendants may partially represent themselves by, for example, supplementing their counsel's filings with ex parte requests to the court. Gunter, like other federal criminal defendants, must either represent himself or appear through counsel. See United States v. Loudermilk, 425 Fed. App'x 500, 503 (6th Cir. June 13, 2011) (“a defendant has no right to combine self-representation with representation by counsel”); United States v. Halbert, 640 F.2d 1000, 1009 (9th Cir. 1981) (collecting cases). The Court therefore denies without prejudice Gunter's pro se motion to dismiss the indictment.