"I am co-counsel and as co-counsel I have the right to represent myself, speak for myself and conduct myself and my trial by myself in my best interests in order of due process"
About this Quote
A courtroom is supposed to be where the state’s power is channeled through procedure, not spectacle. Lynette Fromme’s insistence on being “co-counsel” turns that premise into a stress test. The sentence is a knot of legalistic aspiration and ideological defiance: she stacks rights (“represent myself, speak for myself, conduct myself”) like a mantra, as if repetition can conjure legitimacy. It’s not eloquence so much as incantation, a person trying to seize the grammar of the system that is about to swallow her.
The specific intent is tactical and theatrical at once. Fromme isn’t merely asking for autonomy; she’s trying to control the narrative architecture of her prosecution. “Co-counsel” is the key tell: it’s not pure self-representation (which courts often view as risky), but a bid to occupy both roles, defendant and advocate, blurring competence with performance. The phrase “in my best interests” is a tell, too - it borrows the language of fiduciary duty, as if she can appoint herself her own responsible guardian against a hostile world.
The subtext is distrust, bordering on contempt, for intermediaries: lawyers, institutions, even the idea that justice is something you receive rather than something you seize. In Fromme’s broader cultural context - a Manson-era ecosystem of anti-establishment fervor and apocalyptic certainty - “due process” becomes less a shared civic promise than a prop. She isn’t appealing to the court’s conscience; she’s trying to weaponize its rules, forcing legitimacy to sit beside her at the defense table.
The specific intent is tactical and theatrical at once. Fromme isn’t merely asking for autonomy; she’s trying to control the narrative architecture of her prosecution. “Co-counsel” is the key tell: it’s not pure self-representation (which courts often view as risky), but a bid to occupy both roles, defendant and advocate, blurring competence with performance. The phrase “in my best interests” is a tell, too - it borrows the language of fiduciary duty, as if she can appoint herself her own responsible guardian against a hostile world.
The subtext is distrust, bordering on contempt, for intermediaries: lawyers, institutions, even the idea that justice is something you receive rather than something you seize. In Fromme’s broader cultural context - a Manson-era ecosystem of anti-establishment fervor and apocalyptic certainty - “due process” becomes less a shared civic promise than a prop. She isn’t appealing to the court’s conscience; she’s trying to weaponize its rules, forcing legitimacy to sit beside her at the defense table.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
More Quotes by Lynette
Add to List
