Judge D'Apolito convinces inmate not to represent himself on new charges

YOUNGSTOWN

Bryant Murphy came into Mahoning County Common Pleas Court this morning intent on representing himself, but Judge Anthony M. D’Apolito convinced him to keep his lawyer.

“I’d rather take my chance and shoot my shot,” Murphy said. “If it falls, it’s all on me.”

Murphy faces one count of felonious assault and two counts of harassment with a bodily substance, accused of putting urine and feces in a squirt bottle and spraying it into the face of a guard at the Ohio State Penitentiary on Coitsville-Hubbard Road. It caused serious physical harm to the guard, prosecutors said.

Murphy is 11 years into a 20-year prison sentence for an aggravated robbery and kidnapping committed in Butler County.

He told the judge he heard about Jermaine Bunn representing himself and reaching a not guilty verdict on a murder charge, but that didn’t factor into his decision to represent himself. Murphy argued that, given the seriousness of the charges, he wanted to make sure things were done right.

He added that he’s been in solitary confinement for 10 years.

“I’m fighting for my sanity, my integrity and my dignity to stay intact,” Murphy said.

Read more about the case in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.