THE BRONX — The man accused of murdering a homeless shelter director after stalking her and sexually assaulting her argued on Wednesday that he should represent himself because he hates court-appointed attorneys.
West Spruill, 39, who was indicted on charges of murder and kidnapping in the wake of the horrific attack on 36-year-old Ana Charle in April, told the judge that he did not want or need an attorney during his pro se hearing, despite receiving guidance from his lawyer multiple times throughout the proceedings.
His chief argument was that court-appointed lawyers are incompetent, and that if he is going to lose the trial, he would rather have the loss be his own fault.
"The court always provides garbage representation, and they never provide adequate, decent representation," he said.
"If you're so concerned about me representing myself," he continued, "why don't you provide me with an excellent lawyer?"
Spruill, who was dressed in an orange jumpsuit with a chain wrapped around his waist, attacked Charle as she got into her car, forced her to strip and tried to rape her at gunpoint before shooting and killing her, according to police and court documents.
He had asked to represent himself during his April 29 arraignment, and Judge Margaret Clancy peppered him with questions about this request during his hearing, hitting topics ranging from his education to his mental health.
Spruill occasionally grew impatient with Clancy, specifically when she asked him to explain what he knew about the different legal processes he would go through leading up to trial.
"I don't need to get into specifics. I understand," he said. "I've been through this process before."
Spruill previously represented himself in Michigan for a 2006 felony assault case, which he lost, according to his attorney Cesar Gonzalez. When the judge reminded him of this, he responded that he lost cases with court-appointed attorneys as well.
He stressed that wanting to represent himself was nothing personal against Gonzalez. Rather, he did not think he could trust any court-appointed lawyer.
"I hate court-appointed attorneys," he said. "They're the worst. They're the worst."
Clancy stressed that representing himself would not cause the prosecution to go easy on Spruill. She asked if he would accept having standby counsel for the case, but he refused.
"Why do court-appointed attorneys always lose?" he asked. "Why do they have an awful win-loss ratio?"
"I can't answer that question," Clancy responded, "and I don't think your statistics are accurate."
Clancy said that she needed more time to make a ruling on whether Spruill was fit to represent himself and set the next court date for July 13.
Gonzalez acknowledged that his client had the right to represent himself but maintained that doing so would be a terrible idea.
"I do not agree with his decision to represent himself. Do not. Categorically refute it," he said. "However, I'm also aware that the laws of our land mandate that the ultimate choice as to whether or not an individual wishes to be represented by an attorney or represented by himself exists with the client himself."
