Jaythan Gilder Rejects Plea Deal, Will Self-Represent in $770,000 Tiffany Theft Case
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 11
Jaythan Gilder Rejects Plea Deal, Will Self-Represent in $770,000 Tiffany Theft Case
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 11
Jaythan Lawrence Gilder, 33, won a judge’s approval to waive counsel and represent himself at trial next month in Orlando on burglary and grand theft charges.
Prosecutors had offered a plea deal, but Gilder rejected it; his court-appointed lawyer will remain available only for consultation.
Police say Gilder posed as an NBA player’s assistant at a Tiffany store in an Orlando mall, grabbed two diamond earring sets worth about $770,000 and fled.
Officers later stopped him in Florida’s panhandle, where authorities say he swallowed the earrings before they were recovered after hospital monitoring.
Gilder has been jailed since last year’s arrest and, as an alleged habitual offender, could face up to 30 years on robbery and up to life on grand theft if convicted.
Facing life in prison, why is a career criminal with a 20-year rap sheet gambling on representing himself in court?
After swallowing diamonds to hide evidence, can a felon with no legal training really defend himself against a life sentence?