A Florida man's courtroom antics didn't seem to deter a jury who later cleared him of burglary charges.
The trial for 33-year-old Dorleans Philidor was delayed on Friday morning after Philidor defecated on himself in the courtroom and proceeded to throw his feces towards Miami-Dade Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Lisa Walsh, theMiami Herald said.
The excrement did not reach Walsh, but the move sent lawyers scattering out of Philidor's reach as law enforcement members and corrections officers hurried in to stop the man from continuing with his actions. According to the Herald, Philidor told Walsh "It's protein! It's good for you!" as he threw the feces her way.
Witnesses on hand at the time said that Philidor also ate some of the excrement.
"It was intense. The corrections officers and police officers were swarming. Like 60 of them. They told everyone to leave and you couldn't go back in. It was a hazardous area," witness Allen Rios told the Herald.
Rios posted a short video of part of the encounter on his Instagram account.
Philidor's move came during the morning docket routine, when no jurors were present in the courtroom. However, the courtroom was evacuated so that the area could be cleaned and sanitized while proceedings continued in a different room.
Philidor's appearance on Friday was in connection to a burglary charge, where he is accused of breaking into a home in North Miami Beach while the owner was home. The homeowner called police after the break-in, and Philidor was captured afterward. He was acquitted by a jury later in the day on the burglary charge. However, he still faces charges of grand theft auto for which a separate trial will be held at a later date, the Herald said.
Philidor exhibited similar behavior to his courtroom actions on Thursday when he defecated on himself in his holding cell next to a courtroom, smearing the feces on himself over the walls of the cell. Afterward, he was escorted out of the cell and into the hallway, where the smell was noticeable.
That courtroom, as well as half of the second floor of the building, was shut down so that it could be cleaned and disinfected, the Herald said.
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