A local news story about an alleged sex offender who was, up until this point, representing himself in court piqued my interest: How is he (or any prisoner) able to actually prepare for trial from the confines of jail or prison? Are they able to do research, make calls, write stuff down, go online, etc.?
Gathering evidence and forming a defense for yourself has got to be hard enough for the average joe living a normal life, even in a civil case… I can’t imagine what it’s like for somebody jailed in a criminal case to have to go through all that. Maybe that’s why the guy in the story finally decided to accept a public defender.
Rules would vary from place to place, but here’s an anecdote: I spent a little time in a large county jail outside a major city. There was a law library on the premises. Paper and pencils were in abundance (no pens though). For every X (I think 180 in my case, one in each wing) number of inmates there was a counselor who could write hall passes to allow you to go to the library. There were payphones available anytime outside of lockdown (collect calls only) and you could arrange to use the counselor’s phone if you were indigent.
In a special case like defending yourself, I assume the counselor could arrange meetings with the DA office for you examine evidence or watch depositions. If you needed to find someone to corroborate your case, I guess you would have to find someone on the outside to help (family or private investigator). They don’t let you out to sleuth.
Books could also be mailed to you provided they were purchased from and boxed by a 3rd party vendor (your brother could not mail items other than letters directly from his house due to contraband smuggling issues, I guess). People arranged to have a suit brought to them for court days, so if you had law books at home or some justifiable necessity, that could probably be arranged through the counselor as well.
I never ran into anyone defending themselves, but many had reams of paperwork from the public defenders.
Paperwork flowed freely and the one resource inmates have in abundance is free time.
At least one meeting with the public defenders was scheduled as a default, even if you had your own representation. They asked about the status of your case and whether you had a lawyer or not. I think they would tell you you were crazy to represent yourself, but would help if you needed resources (like if going online really was necessary to your case).
YMMV, but the professional staff was generally helpful. Oh, there was also a full-time priest and tons of volunteers from other religions holding prayer meetings all the time. Whether you were religious or not, they could be used as a potential resource on the outside.
Depending on the nature of the charge, there could be an advocacy group that would help, maybe with supplying you precedent cases or other research.
It varies. While people in jail and prison do have a right to access to the courts, this doesn’t mean they have a right to all the resources a lawyer has. Most prisons do have law libraries and many have access to Lexis. There are also legal aid societies that provide online law libraries. An inmate may also pay a lawyer for advice and other assistance while representing himself in court, in jurisdictions which permit it. Judges may make allowances for errors made in good faith (and in some jurisdictions are required to do so). Nonetheless, self-representation is usually unwise except in the simplest or most minor cases, or in the earliest stages.
In England and Wales they ususally are provided with the ability to formulate their defence. How that is carried out varies, they may be allowed to use the prisons own printing facilities, and the word processor or write it down and and have someone type it, it varies from not only jurisdiction but within as well.