After Matt Baker’s request last week to replace his court-appointed appellate attorney was rejected, the former Baptist minister and convicted murderer sent the lawyer a letter saying he wants to serve as his own legal counsel.

“I guess I didn’t make it clear enough at the hearing,” Baker’s letter to Stan Schwieger reads. “I am firing you as my attorney. . . . I will represent myself, Pro Se.”

Baker, 38, has been held in the McLennan County Jail since he was convicted in January of drugging and suffocating his wife, Kari, in April 2006 at their home in Hewitt.

Matt Baker’s request last week to replace his court-appointed appellate attorney was rejected.
Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune-Herald

Baker and Schwieger had a disagreement after the lawyer withdrew accusations that Baker’s trial attorneys were ineffective as part of a motion for new trial filed late last month.

Since his fall 2006 arrest, Baker has fired or tried to fire all four attorneys who have represented him. Three of those lawyers were working for free.

Schwieger said Tuesday he had not seen Baker’s letter.

“The Constitution allows me to be involved in my defense and decide how my defense should be handled,” Baker said in the two-paragraph letter, which was dated at 8:45 p.m. Sunday.

Baker sent a copy of the letter to 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother, who admitted it into the court file.

The law does not allow for Baker to represent himself during the appellate phase, Schwieger said.

Waco district court, however, still has jurisdiction until the district clerk files the official court record with Waco’s 10th Court of Appeals.

The deadline for the filing is next month.

equinn@wacotrib.com

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