This is from the Daily Report in the case concerning Tariq-Madyun v. The State A21A1037.
On the morning of October 13, 2018, a man robbed a fast-food restaurant at gunpoint. Mr. Tariq-Madyun’s DNA was identified on the face mask and cell phone records placed him in the vicinity of the robbery. At trial, he was found guilty.
He represented himself at trial using a sovereign citizen defense. Naturally, it did not end well. In the appeal, he argued that the court should have advised him that his defense was meritless. “The court responded that it did exercise proper jurisdiction and found that Tariq-Madyun freely, knowingly, and voluntarily chose to waive his right to counsel and represent himself.”
The court dismissed this claim as being without merit.