Convict Of Family Frozen At US Border Seeks To Represent Himself In US Court

Harshkumar Patel, an Indian national convicted of human smuggling last year, has appealed to the US court to allow him to represent himself in a case linked to the deaths of an Indian family frozen to death near the US-Canada border in 2022. Patel is currently in a Pennsylvania prison.

He has filed a motion this week in the US Court of Appeals, claiming to be left out without choice due to his lawyers’ incompetent conduct.

Patel reportedly hired a private lawyer, Seth Kretzer, with fees given by his family and friends, as his first court-appointed lawyer deemed his appeal without merit.

Patel says that Kretzer has requested multiple extensions to file the opening brief, with the final deadline set for 22 December. He claims that Kretzer prepared a plagiarized brief with sections taken from other cases, including a brief prepared by the federal public defender’s office for his co-accused, Steve Shand.

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Shand’s appeal was filed last month, raising questions over whether the traffic stop that led to his arrest on the night of the family’s death was justified. It also questioned whether he should have known the sensitive and vulnerable family would attempt the border crossing that night.

The family died from the extreme exposure to cold on January 19, 2022, while attempting to illegally cross to Minnesota during a blizzard. Their frozen bodies were found 12 metres from the US border.

The late family included Jagdish, 39, Dharmik, 3, Vihangi, 11, and Vaishali, 37.

Harshkumar Patel has asked the court to let him file his own appeal brief and disregard any future brief filed by the counsel, and seeks a public reprimand for Kretzer, along with the refund of the legal fees.

However, Kretzer reportedly responded that he is a credible lawyer and cited his works in the US Supreme Court and said that he has never plagiarized any brief. He said to intend to file a brief unless the court grants Patel’s request.