A motion by Ross T. Mutrux to withdraw as the attorney for Jeffrey Weinhaus was granted Thursday by Presiding Circuit Judge Gael Wood.
Weinhaus, 46, is being held in the Franklin County Jail on multiple charges, many stemming from an armed confrontation with two Missouri Highway Patrol investigators last September.
During Thursday’s hearing in circuit court, Weinhaus asked the judge to approve a surety bond so he can be released from jail in order to find a new attorney.
In January, Judge Wood, after hearing arguments on a motion to reduce Weinhaus’ bond from $50,000 cash only, denied that request and ruled that any further requests for bond reduction would be denied.
Judge Wood took the new request for changing the bond under advisement and said he would issue a ruling next week, according to Prosecuting Attorney Bob Parks.
Parks did not object to the motion for Mutrux to withdraw, but said he probably will request an evidentiary hearing on the latest request for a change in Weinhaus’ bond.
In court Thursday, Weinhaus said he wants to represent himself at his upcoming trial if he can’t find a competent attorney, Parks said.
At the January hearing, Weinhaus requested a speedy trial and Judge Wood scheduled a three-day trial to begin April 30.
On Sept. 11, 2012, Weinhaus was involved in a confrontation with law enforcement officers at a gas station south of St. Clair in which he was wounded.
The patrol investigators had arranged to meet Weinhaus at the gas station and planned to arrest him on a warrant charging him with tampering with a judicial officer, possession of a controlled substance — morphine — and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
The grand jury later indicted Weinhaus on those original charges plus five additional felony counts, including two counts each of attempted assault on a law enforcement officer and armed criminal action and one count of resisting arrest in connection with the Sept. 11 incident.
A longtime anti-law enforcement Internet blogger, Weinhaus initially was under investigation for allegedly making threats toward a Crawford County judge.
On Sept. 11, when officers arranged to meet with Weinhaus, they allege that they shot him when he refused to comply with an order to get down on the ground and started reaching for a handgun.
At the bond hearing in January, Weinhaus, during questioning, admitted that when troopers had ordered him to lie down on the ground, he told them that they would have to shoot him.
That admission is corroborated in a tape recording said to be made by Weinhaus’ ex-wife during the confrontation. Authorities said Weinhaus was talking on his cellphone at the time.
The highway patrol obtained the recording which since has been released on the Internet.
