David Tarloff is  accused of murdering Manhattan therapist Kathryn Faughey and stabbing her partner, psychologist Kent Shinbach, with a meat cleaver.  Even in New York, this is a little unusual.  There just aren’t that many meat cleaver murders anymore, and the use of the word “butcher” has become cliché.

But like all defendants, Tarloff must be arraigned.  And to be arraigned, he must have counsel.  Legal Aid lawyer Reginald Sharpe got the nod.  It was his job to tell Supreme Court Judge Ruth Pickholz that Tarloff wasn’t guilty and request a 730 exam.  Under other circumstances, Sharpe might have made a bail application. 

But Tarloff wasn’t happy about the situation.

Accused therapist-killer David Tarloff lit into his court-appointed attorney during his arraignment Sunday, saying he wouldn’t speak until he received “a real attorney.”

Biting his lip throughout the five-minute court appearance, Tarloff interrupted his Legal Aid attorney, Reginald Sharpe, to tell State Supreme Court Judge Ruth Pickholz he wanted a new lawyer.

“He’s not an attorney,” said Tarloff, who wore a white T-shirt and black sweatpants. “I want to see a real attorney. I’m not stupid. That’s it. I won’t talk until I have a real attorney.”

That Tarloff wanted a “real lawyer” comes as no surprise to any public defender.  They’ve lived with this sort of stupidity since the day after Gideon.  But when Tarloff explained, “I’m not stupid,” that must have brought some comic relief to an otherwise tense appearance.

There’s nothing funny about a murder case.  There’s nothing funny about a person being killed, particularly in such a brutal and painful way.  There’s nothing funny about Tarloff, either a killer haunted by such horrible demons that he did the unthinkable or an innocent man vilified for a horrific murder.  Smart money is on the former at the moment.  Confession plus prints will do that.

Insane people usually aren’t stupid.  But they are insane.  Perhaps Tarloff suffers from delusions of grandeur, and thinks his case is worthy of Johnny Cochran.  Maybe he thinks he can get Johnny to give him advice.  He may be one of the few who can still speak to Johnny.  But the likelihood of Johnny representing Tarloff is less than slim.

Defendants like Tarloff reflect one of the better aspects of our system.  He butchered an innocent woman.  The evidence against him is strong, perhaps overwhelming.  And without any money, someone as notorious as Tarloff gets a fellow like Reginald Sharpe to stand up beside him in court.  And Tarloff insults him, acts abusively and still Reginald Sharpe stands beside him.  Sounds like a real lawyer to me.