WAUKESHA, Wis.— Days before Darrell Brooks Jr.'s trial on 77 charges tied to the Waukesha Christmas parade tragedy is set to begin, Brooks is pushing to defend himself.
Brooks is the alleged suspect in the Waukesha Christmas parade attack, which killed six people and left dozens of others injured.
Brooks’ attorney, Jeremy Perri, filed a motion in Waukesha County Circuit to withdraw from the case on Thursday, according to public records. The motion also sought for Perri's assistant public defender Anna Kees, citing Brooks wanted to represent himself in court.
"Generally speaking, a defendant does have the right to represent themselves," John Gross, a professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School, told Spectrum News 1. "The only condition on that right is the judge has to be satisfied that the defendant is competent to represent themselves — there's one standard to be competent to stand trial, but there's a higher standard if you want to represent yourself."
Gross said in the days leading up to the scheduled trial, the judge has options on what could come next.
"[The judge could] order that the lawyers assigned to the case now, in all likelihood, remain on the case and represent him," Gross said. "A judge has another option which would be to say that Mr. Brooks can represent himself, but leave the lawyers on the case as legal advisors."
The court has scheduled a new court date to hear and possibly rule on the motion on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m.
Watch the full interview above.