PLATTE CITY, Mo. – The American criminal justice system allows for a defendant in a criminal case to be represented by a public defender even if they can’t afford an attorney.
Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd says a 43-year-old Kansas City man would have been better served by taking advantage of that right.
On Tuesday, A jury convicted Michael D. Calvin, who represented himself during trial, of one felony count of theft.
“This is the first felony jury trial in Platte County where anyone can remember a defendant representing himself,” Zahnd said. “This man was repeatedly offered the right to be represented by an attorney even if he could not afford one. I wonder if he now wishes he had exercised that right.”
During the trial, prosecutors proved Calvin stole two televisions from a Platte County Wal-Mart on May 28, 2008.
Wal-Mart security personnel later identified Calvin from surveillance video and an employee at an Indepenence Wal-Mart identified Calvin as a man who had been arrested for a similar offense in April of 2008.
Calvin argued at trial that he was not the thief shown in the video surveillance. He alleged that video had been staged and digitally altered.
“One of the jurors said after the trial that every time the defendant tried to do something in court, he just poked another hole in his boat,” Zahnd said. “This case proves why defendants are almost always better off having a lawyer represent them.”
Calvin, who has spent the last 20 years in and out of prison, faces up to 15 years in prison as a prior and persistent offender, Zahnd said.
