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Westmoreland jury convicts defendant of drug offenses who refused to attend his trial
A Westmoreland County jury took just nine minutes to convict a Philadelphia man of three drug offenses after he refused to appear in court for his trial.
Rysheid Malik Baldwin, 44, was to serve as his own lawyer in what was expected to be a three-day trial on charges that he attempted to sell heroin to an undercover North Huntingdon police officer in 2021.
Court officials said Baldwin, who had been in jail awaiting trial, participated in jury selection on Monday but refused to leave a courthouse holding cell when the case reconvened Tuesday morning.
Following a brief hearing in which a sheriff’s deputy testified that Baldwin refused to attend the court session, Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio ordered that he be tried in absentia (without him present).
Over the next three hours prosecutors presented uninterrupted testimony from police officers who participated in the arrest and lab experts who verified the substances found in Baldwin’s vehicle at the time of his arrest were illegal drugs.
All the while, Baldwin’s court-appointed standby attorney Ken Noga sat quietly at the counsel table.
Noga said he was not able to question witnesses in the trial because Baldwin was officially serving as his own lawyer.
Prosecutors contend 115 stamp bags of heroin, along with more than $600 in cash, was found in Baldwin’s vehicle after he contacted an undercover officer offering to sell drugs in a deal was set to occur in Hempfield parking lot.
The jury convicted Baldwin of two felony and one misdemeanor drug-related offenses. He will remain in jail until sentenced in about three months, the judge said.
According to court records, Baldwin served more than a year in jail following his arrest in lieu of a $150,000 bond. The judge changed Baldwin’s bond to $25,000 unsecured in May 2022 and he was released from jail.
Records indicate Baldwin failed to appear in court for a scheduled hearing in August 2022 when a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was eventually detained last September and held without bond pending his trial.
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