DETROIT (Reuters) - Accused airline bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab fired his court-appointed lawyers on Monday and asked a U.S. judge about the process for him to plead guilty to some of the charges against him.
This courtroom drawing shows accused Christmas Day Bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (L) in Federal court in Detroit, Michigan. January 8, 2010. Abdulmutallab fired his court-appointed lawyers on Monday and asked a U.S. judge about the process for him to plead guilty to some of the charges against him. (REUTERS/Kabrin/Files)
In his first court appearance since January, when he pleaded not guilty, Abdulmutallab said he did not believe his lawyers were serving his best interest and asked U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds to let him represent himself.
Edmunds strongly urged him not to fire his lawyers, but agreed to allow Abdulmutallab's request and will appoint new lawyers to act as consultants to him.
"If I want to plead guilty to some counts, how would that work?" Abdulmutallab asked Edmunds toward the end of the 15-minute court appearance. She told him that standby counsel would be available to answer that type of question.
Abdulmutallab, originally from Nigeria, boarded a Northwest Airlines jumbo jet flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day last year and near the end of the trip he tried to ignite a bomb sewn into his underwear, prosecutors said.
They said it failed to fully detonate and he was subdued by the passengers and crew and the fire was contained.
He was subsequently charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder and four other offenses, charges that could lead to life in prison if convicted.
He had been cooperating with U.S. investigators for several months and told them that he received the device and training from al Qaeda militants in Yemen. Abdulmutallab suffered severe burns from the explosives.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on whether Abdulmutallab was still cooperating with authorities.
The failed attack led to further efforts by the Obama administration to strengthen U.S. airline security.
In a court filing ahead of his appearance, Abdulmutallab's attorneys said they had met in person and by phone "on multiple occasions with government counsel to discuss options for resolution of the case."
Abdulmutallab wore a short-sleeved tan shirt over a white T-shirt and tan pants to the court appearance. He responded to Edmunds' questions in a soft and measured tone.
"I prefer to represent myself," he told the judge, adding that, "I feel any representation I have, there will always be a conflict of interest."
He told Edmunds he had not studied law and had never represented himself in a criminal case. He also said he was not familiar with the federal rules of evidence and was somewhat familiar with criminal procedure.
If Abdulmutallab does plead guilty, he would follow a similar path taken by a Pakistani-born American, Faisal Shahzad, who tried to set off a car bomb in the heart of New York City on May 1. It too failed to detonate.
In June, Shahzad pleaded guilty to 10 charges related to the incident and faces mandatory life in prison.
Edmunds said a person would contact Abdulmutallab within a week about standby counsel and set another status conference for Oct. 14.
The case is USA v Abdulmutallab, 2:10-cr-20005, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
(Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington; Editing by Philip Barbara and Jerry Norton)
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