Reluctant defendant convicted of burglary

John Futty.

Phillips, 55, refused to get out of bed, pulling a blanket over his head when a deputy sheriff tried to coax him out of his jail cell for the first day of testimony.

Although Phillips was representing himself in the trial, Judge Richard A. Frye ruled that the trial would continue, with stand-by defense counsel Jeffrey Basnett taking over.

Under Ohio law, a defendant waives his right to be present if he is “voluntarily absent” after the trial has begun.

Phillips agreed to return to the courtroom a day later, but by then the judge had ruled that he could no longer represent himself, having disrupted the trial by his absence.

The jury took about two hours Thursday to convict Phillips of breaking into the Psi Omega Psi dental Fraternity on East 13th Avenue on June 6, 2017.

Whether he chooses to attend or not, Phillips’ sentencing is scheduled for July 30.

Columbus Division of Police Officer Anthony L. Johnson’s dance moves had already garnered more than a half-million views as of Monday afternoon.

The 30-year-old officer, who patrols the 11th precinct on the city’s South Side, was at the John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons on Saturday during the summer concert series when he took to the stage to bust a few moves.

Johnson, who graduated from the police academy in 2013, routinely posts videos on social media playing paper, rock scissors and interacting with children on his public Facebook account.

He’s known for connecting with people in the neighborhoods he patrols.

Johnson has been invited to speak about community policing twice at Harvard University. He’s also on a panel to statewide panel to improve police relationships with the community, according to his page.