DETROIT, July 7 (UPI) -- The accused underwear bomber can get significant help from a lawyer while representing himself at his trial, a federal judge in Detroit ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds postponed a motion by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to delay the trial, set for Oct. 4, the Detroit Free Press reported. Edmunds extended the time for Abdulmutallab and his court-appointed lawyer to file pre-trial motions.
Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to blow up a passenger plane as it approached Detroit on a flight from Amsterdam on Christmas Day in 2009, using explosives concealed in his underwear. He is a citizen of Nigeria.
During Thursday's hearing, Abdulmutallab said he wants to give his own opening and closing statements and to participate in questioning witnesses. But he said he would need substantial help from lawyer Anthony Chambers.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel argued that if Abdulmutallab is representing himself Chambers should not be allowed to sit at the defense table or speak to Abdulmutallab or the judge in the presence of the jury unless they ask him to.
Edmunds said the lawyer can sit with Abdulmutallab. She said the details will be discussed at a meeting in chambers.
