This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
The man accused of holding customers hostage inside a Trader Joe’s this summer will be allowed to represent himself on murder and other charges, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Gene Evin Atkins, who is accused of engaging in a gun battle with Los Angeles police that ended with the shooting death of a Trader Joe’s manager, faces 51 criminal counts, including murder, attempted murder of a peace officer and kidnapping.
Atkins, 28, made the request during a court hearing after interrupting his court-appointed attorney to address Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gustavo N. Sztraicher.
“Your honor, I would like to fire my attorney,” he said. “I would like to go pro per.”
Read the full story on LATimes.com.
