A man on death row for murdering two teens is seeking a new trial, claiming his constitutional rights were violated when he was forced to act as his own lawyer.
Howard Willis, 71, appeared in a Tennessee courtroom Monday for his first post-conviction hearing, which is expected to last several days.
Willis was sentenced to death in 2010 for the 2002 murders of 17-year-old Adam Chrismer and 16-year-old Samantha Leming Chrismer, teenage newlyweds from Georgia. Their bodies were found in a storage unit rented by Willis' mother days after Adam's head and hands were discovered by fishermen in northeastern Tennessee, the Associated Press reported.
According to the AP, Willis had nine lawyers before a judge accused him of trying to manipulate the court to avoid prosecution and ruled that he would have to represent himself.
In his bid for the new trial, Willis claims the original trial was unfair and that he wasn't given sufficient resources to defend himself. Although he claimed he was set up and cited a lack of physical evidence, he was convicted by a jury and sentenced to death.
While some lawyers withdrew from the case for personal reasons, Willis said he had legitimate complaints about others. He's denied intentionally creating conflict to prolong a trial.
"Although it is inconvenient to have to replace a lawyer, if there are legitimate complaints about the performance of that lawyer, a citizen should be entitled to raise those issues and have the right to counsel protected, especially when they are facing the death penalty," his new petition argues, per the AP.
The state is arguing that many of Willis' complaints have already been considered by other courts and found to be without merit, the AP reported.
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