The O-town Scene

R.o.B.S. ATHENS, Ohio _ An Ohio University stu- dent is facing a weekend in a jail cell, and it’s all because of daylight-saving time. Trent Boardman, 21, was scheduled to appear in municipal court Monday morning to face charges of disorderly conduct, oper- ating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, and driving with a suspended license. Boardman was one of several students arrested in March when riots broke out after Court Street bars closed early for daylight- saving time. He entered a not-guilty plea at a court appear- ance in early June, but missed several subsequent court appearances. Now, the switch back to standard time has caused more problems for Board- man. According to Boardman’s attorney, Gerald Malatesta of the law firm Malatesta, Hollingsworth and Chatham, the college senior missed yet another court date Monday. The reason? Boardman’s cell phone _ an Apple iPhone _ didn’t switch back to stan- dard time, and woke him up an hour late. It’s hard to tell what’s true these days. Take a gander below, and guess if A. and B. are Real or B.S. (Answers at the bottom of the page.) A. Suspect says it’s time to get new cell phone “My client relies on his cell phone as an alarm clock,” Malatesta explained in a brief to the court. “Unfortunately for Mr. Board- man, his Apple iPhone suffered from a technical malfunction by which it failed to update its ‘time stamp’ to adjust for daylight savings time.” Apple released informa- tion last week for iPhone users to prevent just such a problem from occur- ring, according to CNN, but many users reported problems Monday related to the time change. The fix didn’t help Board- man, whose no-show in court left Judge Howard MacClean in a decidedly unforgiving mood. In court on Monday, MacClean told Malatesta that he would “no longer tolerate ... the court’s time being wasted.” He ruled that Boardman was to spend 48 hours in jail before a rescheduled court appearance Nov. 15. Speaking through his attorney, Boardman called the situation “ridiculous,” saying that this was “the last straw.” “I’m totally getting a Droid now,” Board- man said. Associated Press Serial killer Jeffrey L. Dahmer walks into the Milwaukee County Court in August 1991. B. Name-dropping gets man out of jury duty CLEVELAND _ An Ohio man was excused from jury service after mentioning he was a childhood friend of cannibalistic serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. John Backderf _ better known as Derf, a cartoonist and graphic novelist _ was among prospective jurors being screened last week by a judge in Cleveland. Backderf was asked a question every- one in the jury pool must handle, “Has anyone you know ever been convicted of a crime?” After some rountine answers about rela- tively minor crimes, he responded: “I had a close friend in high school who killed 17 people.” The Plain Dealer reported Monday that the answer caused the judge to freeze and lawyers to drop their pens. Everyone in the jury box turned their heads on Backderf all at once. “Who?” the judge asked. “Jeffrey Dahmer,” Backderf answered. He explained he knew Dahmer, who was raised in northeast Ohio. Backderf has written and illustrated a collection of short stories for a soon-to- be published graphic novel, “My Friend Dahmer.” Dahmer confessed to killing and dismem- bering men and boys in Milwaukee. An inmate killed him in a Wisconsin prison in 1994. Backderf was dismissed from the jury list. Nov. 11, 2010 O-Town Scene 35 This week is an Ohio-themed Real or B.S. A. Is B.S., by Emily Popek. B. Is B.S.

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