A federal judge posed a crucial question on Wednesday to Chris Bendann: Did he understand that he had an absolute right under the U.S. Constitution to attend every part of his trial?
“Yes,” Bendann replied, “I do.”
But Bendann, a former teacher at the Gilman School who’s accused of sexually abusing a student and recording explicit videos, then informed the judge that he wanted to skip parts of the court proceedings anyway.
The moment capped off a whirlwind morning that started with Bendann refusing to leave his jail cell.
Bendann, 40, of Baltimore, is charged in U.S. District Court in Baltimore with sexual exploitation of a child, possession of child pornography and cyberstalking. He maintains his innocence.
At 9:30 a.m., jury selection was supposed to start. It’s typically dull and uneventful. Federal prosecutors and defense attorneys were inside the courtroom and seated at their respective tables. But Bendann was nowhere to be seen.
That’s when a court clerk directed everyone to report to a different courtroom. U.S. Senior District Judge James K. Bredar took the bench before 10 a.m. and explained the reason for the delay.
When the U.S. Marshals Service went to the Chesapeake Detention Facility, he said, Bendann “declined to accompany them and to come to the courthouse.”
Bredar said the law is clear. People have to show up for their trials — at least in the beginning.
So Bredar directed deputy marshals to go to Bendann’s cell and deliver instructions that he must appear.
“The United States Marshal shall FORTHWITH deliver the Defendant to the Motz Ceremonial Courtroom in the United States Courthouse in Baltimore so that the long-scheduled jury trial in this matter may commence,” Bredar wrote. “SO ORDERED.”
By 11:10 a.m., Bendann had arrived at the Edward A. Garmatz U.S. Courthouse, where he sported a tan sport coat, khaki pants and blue tie.
Meanwhile, his attorneys, Christopher Nieto and Gary Proctor, filed a motion for a psychiatric examination to determine if their client was competent to stand trial.
Bredar asked Bendann a series of questions:
Did he know where he was this morning? Did he recall what charges he was facing? Did he understand the nature of the allegations?
“I’m physically fine. Mentally, emotionally stable,” Bendann said. “I’m frustrated with our judicial system.”
With the press, Bendann expressed disappointment. When it came to his attorneys, he said, he was frustrated that they told him not to speak to reporters. He cast doubt about the existence of the legal principle of the presumption of innocence.
At one point, Bredar and Bendann even took part in a philosophical discussion about the Declaration of Independence. “The declaration for privileged white men?” Bendann said. “Yes, I know that history.”
Nieto said he was concerned about his client’s ability to meaningfully participate in his own defense, citing statements that he made on Tuesday during a 12-minute call with his father, Lance, that seemed to reflect suicidal thoughts.
Proctor then walked up to a lectern in the center of the courtroom, bent the microphone toward the speakers on his laptop and played the recording.
“Tomorrow’s jury selection, Dad. I’m not going,” Bendann said on the call. “I told them and the lawyers.”
Though Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen McGuinn described some of the statements as concerning, she said there had been no evidence put forward that Bendann was incompetent to stand trial.
Bredar agreed.
In fact, he said, Bendann had been “demonstrating a mind that’s razor sharp.”
Then, Bendann asked to be excused.
He quickly clarified that he wanted to attend parts of his trial and skip other portions. (For instance, he said, he did not care about the forensic experts for the government, whom he alleged had no credibility.)
When the judge told him about his right to testify, Bendann said, “I will be doing that, your honor.”
Bredar suggested that law enforcement could bring Bendann to the courthouse every day, and he could then decide whether to attend his trial.
But Bendann said he did not want to go through the indignity of being woken up at 6 a.m., handcuffed and shackled and shoved into a van. Plus, he said, court staff cannot accommodate his diet.
His attorneys came up with a solution: They would confer with him every night and make arrangements if he wished to go to his trial the next day.
Bendann reported that he wanted to attend the first part of jury selection. But he asked if it was possible partway through the process to be taken back to jail.
“We’re not running Uber here,” Bredar said.
He called a one-hour break for lunch, and then jury selection commenced.
