WA: from p.d. frying pan to pro se fire

From Yakima, a reminder: the judge and jury always see and always pick up on the behavior displayed at counsel table:

Defendant — and attorney

A Yakima County jury began hearing testimony in the murder trial of a man accused of the ultimate act of domestic violence — beating and stomping to death his girlfriend in a drunken rage. Kenith Wayne Sherrill, 59, is representing himself on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Teressa Lynn Hilton, 39...

Although the facts of the case are not particularly unusual, it is unusual for a defendant to represent himself on a murder charge... Self-representation in a murder case is rare and was allowed only after pre-trial hearings during which Sherrill repeatedly accused court-appointed attorney Tim Cotterell of "prosecuting" him.

I've seen this sort of expression before on other defendants in court, but I can't quite interpret it. Controlling and confident? Or contemptuous and clueless? He puts me in mind of the proverbial frog in a pot over a slow flame, who doesn't notice as the water comes up to a boil.