Many of you are familiar with Don Perry, he of Becker Farms' fame and a frequent caller to WLVL. He was the centerpiece of a Business First article in its most recent edition. The story focused on people who represent themselves in court...something Don has done. Here are some snippets from the story...
Donald Perry has been embroiled for more than seven years in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court.
That could make for some hefty legal bills – except Perry, an 82-year-old retired materials engineer, represents himself.
Perry is a “pro se” litigant – someone who serves as his own lawyer.
A Gasport resident, Perry’s daughter and son-in-law own Becker Farms. He shares a home with them at the same address as the fruit and vegetable farm. He was charged with retaliation stemming from his decision to report a group of migrant workers he contended were in the United States illegally on expired work visas. The workers had filed a complaint charging Becker Farms with violating the Fair Labor Standards Act.
After appearing in court to answer the charges without an attorney, Perry was assigned a public defender, whom he promptly fired. Despite facing off against what he says were as many as nine different attorneys over the course of his civil suit, Perry remained determined to defend himself and forgo traditional counsel.
“I was innocent. I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I pay for a lawyer to defend myself when I wasn’t guilty?” he said. “The other thing I knew was that this was a phony case – these kinds of cases never go to trial.”
He received a letter from the court dated Sept. 8, he said, notifying him that while he was found guilty of retaliation against the plaintiffs, since the men did not wish to pursue monetary damages, there was no need for a trial, and the case was closed.
The rest of the article, which features more information about Don's adventures and others who have represented themselves in court, can be read in Business First.
