Man Facing Death Acts as Lawyer

There were moments when Daniel Carl Frederickson looked very much the defense attorney.

He “stipulated.” He objected. He made motions.

He is not a defense attorney, however. Rather, he is a defendant, accused of fatally shooting Scott Wilson, a manager at a HomeBase store in Santa Ana on June 13, 1996. He has decided to use his own abilities to try to keep himself from being executed.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Debbie Lloyd, who was watching the trial, described the atmosphere in Judge William Froeberg’s courtroom as “surreal.”

In his opening statement, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Tanizaki said he would play several audiotape recordings in which Frederickson first confesses to the crime and later recants.

Tanizaki said Frederickson was robbing the home improvement store when Wilson, 30, refused to give him the money in the safe. Frederickson got angry and shot him in the head, Tanizaki said.

Frederickson didn’t give an opening statement.

For safety reasons, neither Frederickson nor Ed Freeman, the attorney appointed to advise him, are allowed to stand. A runner shuttled evidence between the attorneys and witnesses. To be fair, Tanizaki is not allowed to stand either.

Frederickson, in spite of an apparent comfort in the courtroom resulting from a long criminal record, appeared to incriminate himself several times when cross-examining eyewitnesses by asking such questions as, “Was I standing or walking when you saw me shoot Scott?”

His special status was also evident during court breaks when Frederickson removed his baggy green blazer and tie and was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, but only after bailiffs helped him gather his laptop computer in his shackled hands.

Frederickson has defended himself in previous cases, Tanizaki said. He has been convicted four times in the last 15 years of a variety of felonies, including burglary, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

Prosecutors said it is rare for criminals accused of serious crimes to try to mount their own defense. Tanizaki, who is prosecuting Frederickson, said he is not aware of another death penalty case in Orange County in which the defendant tried to represent himself.

Such cases, said Lloyd, are often reversed on the grounds the accused was not given a proper defense.