> I don't see the problem as long as the actual lawyer can intervene when necessary.

There was no actual lawyer, they planned to do it without notifying the judge, having a defendant “represent themselves” with a hidden earpiece. They'd already issued an AI-drafted subpoena to the citing officer (which is almost certainly a blunder aside from any rule violations; officers not showing when a ticket is scheduled for court is one of the main reasons people win ticket contests, there is almost never a reason the defense would want to assure their appearance.)