BLUEFIELD, W.Va., Jan. 16 — A public defender was named Friday as “standby counsel” for Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, who is facing trial for fleeing a prison where she is serving a life term for trying to kill former President Gerald Ford.

Fromme, a disciple of cult killer Charles Manson, waived her right to counsel at an arraignment Thursday, insisting she be allowed to handle her own defense.

Given the antics Manson and three codefendants displayed when convicted in 1970 in the Tate-LaBianca slayings, U.S. Magistrate Charles Cunningham said Fromme could turn the courtroom into a circus.

James Brink or the federal public defender’s office was appointed as standby counsel, although Fromme would be permitted to present witnesses and cross-examine the government’s witnesses in the fashion of a defense lawyer, the magistrate said.

Fromme was convicted of trying to gun down Ford in Sacramento in 1975.