SPRINGFIELD – Every clown has a down day occasionally, and Orlando Melendez had one this week in Springfield District Court.During a pretrial hearing Thursday, a judge rejected Melendez’s plan to showcase his juggling skills for jurors at his upcoming trial.”The keystone to his defense is: He’s literally a clown,” the defendant, writing in the third person, explained in a motion that elicited a one-word response from Judge Robert Murphy.”Denied,” the judge wrote on the motion.Melendez, 20, is charged with using a toy gun during an attempted robbery of a Forest Park convenience store in December. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempting to commit a crime and was ordered held on $5,000 bail.Jury selection is scheduled to begin on June 8. Melendez, who fired his court-appointed lawyer, has represented himself since February.During Thursday’s hearing, Melendez outlined his defense strategy in a hand-written motion declaring he was, in effect, just clowning
Source: Springfield judge denies clown’s plan to juggle for jurors as centerpiece of defense | masslive.com
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