When a suspect standing trial for a crime doesn’t show up for it, his attorney must defend him anyway.
Such is the case this week in the jury trial for Anthony Eugene Dennis Jr., 31, who is now wanted on a bench warrant for failure to appear at his own trial on a gun possession charge. He is at large and is known to carry guns.
Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge. J. Craig Cox, the presiding judge, agreed Monday to proceed with Dennis’ trial in his absence since both the prosecuting and defense attorneys were ready to proceed. He did not show up for jury selection Monday, nor was he present for the first day of his trial.
Dennis, nicknamed “Nerd,” is being defended in court by court-appointed counsel John Bongivengo. Assistant District Attorney Emily Sanchez-Parodi is prosecuting the case.
Bongivengo said despite Dennis’ absence, “I have a job to do.”
Dennis is charged as a person not to possess a firearm. He was arrested on a parole violation on Sept. 28, 2021, when his state parole officers reportedly found a gun hidden in a wastebasket, and for him to have it was a violation of his parole.
A criminal complaint filed against him at the time stated Dennis had multiple convictions on numerous offenses that prevented him from legally having a gun in his possession. He had been convicted of a robbery in 2013 and has other felony charges and convictions from other incidents.
The robbery in 2013 reportedly involved his stealing a man’s phone and a game set the man had for sale. Dennis then fired a shot at him and missed him, according to a police report at the time.
In a 2016 incident, Dennis reportedly pulled a gun on a woman on Ray Street, then later texted her and asked her if she was “scared of a little heat,” according to a criminal complaint associated with that incident.
In a May 2016 incident, Dennis reportedly was involved in a four-car accident when police found a stolen loaded gun in his car, according to court papers.
Dennis reportedly showed up for a pre-trial conference but when jury selection day came on Monday, he did not report.
Opening arguments in the trial proceeded Tuesday morning, followed by testimony from state parole agent Harry Clarke. Clarke testified that he received information Dennis, who was wanted on a parole violation, was in a Sheridan Avenue second-floor apartment and that he had a flame-thrower, a gun and ammunition.
Clarke said he went to the apartment on Sept. 28, 2021, and knocked. Dennis, who was near the door, asked him to wait a minute. The agents waited and eventually, Dennis opened the door, Clarke told the jury.
Clarke said he saw a box of federal 9-millimeter ammunition on the coffee table. He said Dennis told him where the flame thrower was under the living room couch. He said he searched the apartment for a gun and found a Glock 43X hidden in the kitchen trash can, in between the plastic wall of it and the liner. He said the ammunition matched the gun, which had an extended magazine attached. It was turned over to the New Castle police, the agent testified.
According to a criminal complaint filed with the charge, the gun was registered to someone else and loaded with one live round in the chamber.
A woman who lived in the apartment testified Dennis stayed at her apartment for about a month during September of 2021 and slept on her couch.
“He basically was homeless and didn’t have anywhere to go,” she said, adding, “he had a bad situation.”
She said she was not at home when the parole agents arrived at her apartment, and Dennis was gone when she got there. She said she had a Ring camera on her door and she saw the agents arrive there.
Testimony continued in the afternoon with New Castle police Cpl. Branddon Hallowich, who investigated the incident.
Closing arguments are expected to proceed Wednesday when the case will go to the jury for deliberation and a verdict.
Suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty or adjudicated in court.
This is the second case within the past 25 years when a defendant failed to attend his jury trial.
The last known jury trial that proceeded without a defendant in the county court system was that of James “OZ” Brooks, a Detroit drug kingpin who was convicted in absentia and sentenced in absentia in 2007 to 22 1/2 to 45 years in state prison. He was at large and was arrested by New Castle police four years later in 2011. His case was prosecuted by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.
dwachter@ncnewsonline.com
