When Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Ty Graham dismissed an outspoken African-American man from a jury Thursday afternoon, the defendant in the case yelled, “Objection!”
Andre Yeager, who was representing himself in a trial over several smash-and-grab break-ins at local businesses, then went into a sidebar with the judge, prosecutor and Yeager’s attorney, who was on stand-by in case Yeager needed legal advice.
After the group conferred, visiting Judge Richard Reinbold told the juror he was dismissed, and the jury selection continued.
This was the unusual scene in a Summit County courtroom Thursday as Yeager took advantage of a seldom-used right for a defendant to represent himself in a criminal proceeding. Reinbold is presiding over the case for Judge Alison McCarty, who is out of town.
Yeager, 47, of Cleveland, is charged with four counts of breaking and entering, as well as receiving stolen property, possessing criminal tools, driving under suspension and obstructing official business. Prosecutors say Yeager was involved in break-ins at four local businesses in which someone rammed a vehicle into a door or window and then stole items from inside. If convicted, Yeager faces up to 6½ years in prison.
Prosecutors say Yeager may be linked to as many as 15 break-ins at businesses in the Akron area.
Yeager, dressed in a dark blue suit with a light blue dress shirt and tie, however, said he was innocent during his opening statement.
“I’m here speaking for myself,” he told the jurors. “You are the only buffer for me staying free. I have a lot to lose today.”
Graham said Yeager was tied to break-ins at Novus eye clinic, Shop Express liquor store, Union Eye Care and the former Family Mini Mart, all in Akron, between 2013 and 2016. He said Yeager was arrested in July 2016 in the parking lot of a BP gas station on Copley Road driving a stolen car that was backed up to the station’s doors.
Graham said the thieves in the break-ins stole liquor and Black & Milds from the liquor store and high-end optical frames from the eye clinics. He said Yeager’s DNA matched DNA samples found at the scenes of three of the four break-ins.
Job Esau Perry is Yeager’s attorney who will be there during the trial in case Yeager has legal questions. Yeager, though, is sitting in the first seat on the defense side of the table where the defense attorney would normally be, with Perry to his right.
Graham asked the pool of 30 jurors their thoughts about Yeager representing himself during voir dire, which is the process used to select a jury. Several jurors expressed confusion and concerns about this choice.
“I don’t think he’s skilled enough to know when to object,” said one juror, whose son is an attorney. “I think he should have thought it over more.”
Another juror wondered whether Yeager was mentally competent.
Reinbold assured the jurors that Yeager was deemed competent before the trial.
“There is nothing to interfere with his ability to represent himself,” the judge said.
One juror said Yeager’s decision brought to mind the phrase, “Anyone who represents himself has a fool for a client.”
“I’ll try to put it aside,” the juror said of his views.
Yeager has previously been convicted of break-ins at Akron area businesses, including a string of 100 “cigarette bandit” thefts in the early 2000s in which the culprits drove a stolen car through plate-glass windows of businesses, stepped over the broken glass and stole dozens of cartons of cigarettes — usually Newports.
Yeager’s new trial is expected to conclude by Monday.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @swarsmithabj and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/swarsmith.