Inmate Charged in Guard Murder Is Hungry, Says He'll Fire Counsel Unless Judge Supersizes Meals
A Utah prisoner who allegedly overpowered a guard while outside prison for a medical appointment and shot him to death with his own gun has lost 50 pounds while in custody awaiting his capital murder trial in the June 2007 slaying, his lawyer says.
But a state-court judge was unsympathetic to Curtis Allgier’s claim that he is hungry, and refused to accede to the now-200-pound inmate’s arguments and demands for more food, the Associated Press reports.
Allgier told 3rd District Court Judge Paul Maughan he’ll fire his lawyers and represent himself at trial next year if he doesn’t get the double portions and nutrtional supplement he is seeking, the article says. But Maughan declined to interfere in the administration of the prison and suggested that the inmate and his lawyers try to reach an agreement with officials there.
“As with any other offender, the inmate or his attorneys certainly could request to have him seen by medical staff so they could determine whether he is in need of any supplement to his typical daily diet,” a prison spokesman tells the news agency.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Jail Officials Read Legal Mail & May Record Lawyers, Says Defense in Guard Murder Case”
ABAJournal.com: “Prison Food Unconstitutionally Bad? No Way, Courts—and Dinner Guests—Say”
ABAJournal.com: “Calif. Judge OK’d Seinfeld’s ‘Festivus’ as Legitimate Religion, Ordered Special Meals for Inmate”
