QUESTIONS — Robert Lollathin, center, listens during Thursday’s court proceedings. -- Linda Harris

STEUBENVILLE — A defendant who fired his attorney mid-trial and initially said he wanted to defend himself changed his mind overnight, telling Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Michelle Miller Thursday he now wants her to appoint a lawyer from outside the immediate area to represent him.

Robert Lollathin, 38, a Dillonvale resident, is being tried on two counts of feloniously assaulting his then-girlfriend and a third count alleging he tried to strangle the same woman. If he’s convicted on all three felony counts and the sentences are consecutive, Lollathin could face as much as 17 years in prison.

A jury had been seated but was not present when Lollathin requested a brief recess Wednesday afternoon after Miller excluded a “jailhouse chirp” between him and a quadmate, a friend since his school days, from being entered into evidence, deeming it not relevant to the case at hand. Chirps are a text messaging system that allows inmates to communicate with the outside world, provided they’re willing to pay for it.

In recapping the previous day’s events, Miller said it “was just a brief overview when we were making the record, the court has not seen the entirety of that conversation.”

“The court then had a brief discussion with the defendant in that regard and (he) went on to express his displeasure (with) the court’s ruling” she said, noting attorney Steven Stickles then informed her Lollathin had requested a recess so he could tell her he’d fired him as his lawyer and wanted to represent himself.

Before calling the jurors back into court Wednesday and sending them home, Miller had told Stickles he would serve as stand-by counsel for the duration of the trial and advised Lollathin to “give it some more thought and take the evening to consider (it).”

When court reconvened Thursday, again without the jury present, Miller told Lollathin if he chose to represent himself he’d be expected to “know the rules, decorum, procedure and evidentiary rules” of the legal system and pointed out Prosecuting Attorney Jane Hanlin, who is trying the case, “has tried hundreds of cases and knows a lot more than you do about the law.”

But as she attempted to verify for the court record that he understood the ramifications of proceeding pro se, Lollathin repeatedly interrupted the judge and, at times, talked over her, instead of answering her questions. When she tried to steer him back on topic, Lollathin told her, “Let me finish first.”

“See, that’s where I anticipate we’re having a problem,” she said. “So that’s why we’re going to do this very slowly and methodically to make sure the record is clear.”

She also reminded him he’d previously been found in contempt due to similar behavior during a pre-trial hearing, but he interrupted her again, saying, “I’m not (going to be) threatened with 20 years over my head.”

“Don’t interrupt the court,” she admonished, but Lollathin tried to drown her out, saying, “I’m just telling you, I’m not going to be bullied around” and at one point told the judge to “hold on … let me finish first.”

Miller told Lollathin the court needed to be certain he understood representing himself would put him “at a serious disadvantage” before she could allow him to proceed, and Lollathin said he understood. But when it came time to sign a document waiving his right to an attorney, Lollathin refused.

“I’m not going to sign a waiver … when I tried to get a new attorney from the very start,” he said, claiming his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated because Stickles, who carries a heavy court-appointed caseload, had said he had cases booked until now but at some point took time off “and the court had to be aware.”

Whether Stickles actually took time off has not been proven and even if it were, as one person in the courtroom pointed out afterward, “everyone’s entitled to a vacation.”

But throughout the 30 minutes he was in the courtroom, Lollathin kept repeating his assertion, and the frustrated Stickles eventually asked for and was given permission to withdraw as standby counsel.

At one point Miller told Lollathin “you’ve been quite disruptive,” then had to admonish him again to “be quiet” until she finished speaking.

“You’ve been more than disruptive in these proceedings, and this court does not doubt for one moment that your antics are simply to delay the trial,” Miller said before asking Hanlin if there was anything she’d like to add to the record.

“I can start by pointing out the inaccuracy of everything that he has said so far today in terms of how we ended up here,” Hanlin said. “He very clearly yesterday saw what he wanted, he did not ask for counsel. If what he is thinking is that we’re going to start over, that’s not going to happen. He may get new counsel, but he will sit in the Jefferson County jail until we determine if any lawyer at the Ohio Public Defender’s office can step in mid-trial.