DUI defendant claims that he's his own country

[March 12, 2009]  EASTON, Pa. (AP) -- A man accused of driving drunk said Pennsylvania courts have no jurisdiction over him because he's his own country.

After seeing the paperwork that 44-year-old Scott Allan Witmer filed with the court claiming sovereignty, a Northampton County judge said Tuesday he cannot be released from jail until he gets a mental exam.

Witmer, who represented himself, said he believes police lack jurisdiction to pull him over. As he said in court: "I live inside myself, not in Pennsylvania." He said there is no victim in the crime and asked to go to trial.

Defense attorney James Connell, Witmer's standby counsel, said a challenge to the traffic stop would need to be filed as a pretrial motion.

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Information from: The Express-Times, http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/

[Associated Press]

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