Today was the first day of D.J. Byrnes’s The Rooster telecommunications harassment trial involving Ohio state Senator Jerry Cirino. Byrnes is better known as the Rooster, and I decided to show up at Willoughby Municipal Court in solidarity. This is my firsthand account.
My plan was to pop in, give him a fist bump, say good luck, and leave for physical therapy. I hurt my bad a couple weeks ago. Bad. Instead, I ended up staying the whole day.
When I walked up the stairs, the hallway was full of people I already knew. There were people from Lake County, including John T. Plecnik, whom I spoke with about property taxes. Former congressional canidate Carl Setzer was there, too. My understanding is that he and the Rooster became good friends during and after Carl’s congressional primary campaign. Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill was also there, along with plenty of political insiders, Rooster supporters, and supporters of Cirino.
There was a lot of media, too: newsletter writers, bloggers, vloggers, the conservative outlet Ohio Political News, News 5, and myself. Carl and I had a funny exchange about whether I counted as media. He encouraged me to go in with the press for jury selection. I didn’t, and afterward I regretted it. Apparently, I’m still adjusting to being on this side of things.
Even The New York Times was there. Yes, The New York Times was watching this.
A Long Wait and a Comment That Put Things Into Perspective
I arrived at about 11:45 a.m. We weren’t let into the courtroom until around 2:30, after jury selection. By then, I counted nine people seated in the jury area: three men and six women, all of whom appeared caucasian. Most looked middle-aged to me, with a couple of women who appeared to be in their late 50s or 60s and one young man who looked to be in his mid-20s.
I saw D.J. walking around with his lawyer a couple of times. D.J. looked visibly stressed and concerned about how this was going to go. Rightfully so. If he weren’t nervous, I’d probably think he was a psychopath. I didn’t see Cirino until he came in to testify.
But before the opening statements, a woman I assumed was the bailiff said something that put the whole afternoon into perspective. She was directing people, explaining courtroom procedures, ushering jurors and spectators in and out, managing the media, and keeping order.
On my way in, I said, “Busy day today.”
Her response, as I remember it, we had a rape case earlier, but nobody seemed to show up for that one.
That hit me like a ton of bricks. I took it as a comment on the attention this case was getting compared with what had come before it.
Earlier, that courtroom had apparently been dealing with an allegation of rape, with the horrific events and life-changing consequences that involves. Now it was packed with political people and reporters for a misdemeanor case about a Shrek meme dick pic sent to a senator.
That was the contrast sitting in my head as we took our seats.
What the Prosecution and Defense Said
Opening statements began at around 2:45 p.m.
The prosecution argued that the Rooster had crossed the line from political criticism into criminal harassment. Their position was that he sent Cirino an unsolicited, sexually explicit image while the senator was at home, accompanied by a message mocking his unsuccessful campaign to become Ohio Senate president.
According to the prosecution, this wasn’t a request for comment or an attempt to gather information. It was a personal taunt intended to harass him. At one point, the prosecutor compared it to a football player spiking the ball after a touchdown.
The defense laid out the political context. The Rooster is an independent political journalist and commentator whose work includes satire, profanity, and blunt criticism of Ohio politicians. He had been covering Cirino’s effort to become Senate president, and the messages were sent on the same day Cirino’s withdrawal became public.
The defense argued that the exchange was political commentary about a newsworthy event, protected by the First Amendment. They also emphasized that this was a brief exchange on one day, with Cirino replying to the initial message and receiving a response.
That was the case each side put in front of the jury before the testimony began.
Cirino’s Phone Became a Major Part of the Testimony
The prosecution called Cirino as its first witness. Their questions took about ten minutes by my estimate. Then the defense began its cross-examination.
It was long. It was absolutely tedious at points. But they made their point.
To be perfectly honest, when I first sat there listening, my reaction was that sending Shrek’s dick to a senator’s personal phone was absolutely uncalled for. Then the defense started asking about that phone, and the picture changed.
Cirino testified that he had used the same number for about 25 years. It was his only cellphone, and he used it for just about everything.
Personal calls, yes. But also calls with constituents, lobbyists, and journalists. Campaign business. Call time to raise money from donors. This was a phone he used for his work as a state senator and for his political activities.
The defense also introduced newspaper articles in which that cellphone number had been published. Cirino acknowledged that it had appeared publicly.
So this was a do-everything phone number tied directly to his work as a public official. That was a significant part of what the defense spent all that time establishing, and it changed how I understood the initial description of someone sending an offensive image to his personal phone.
The defense also walked through the exchange itself. Cirino received the first message, replied, and received another response. He acknowledged that he had not told the sender to stop texting him and that the messages were part of one exchange on one day.
Another notable moment involved an email Cirino sent to Kirtland Police Chief Jamie Fisher asking for charges to be filed. Cirino initially explained that he wanted to understand what remedies were available and distinguished that from specifically asking for criminal charges. But when the defense brought him back to the wording of the email, he acknowledged that he had asked for charges.
The questioning also returned to the Senate presidency contest. The defense connected the timing of the messages to the public news that Cirino had withdrawn, placing the exchange within a political story the Rooster had already been covering.
That was the point of the lengthy cross-examination: establishing what this phone was used for, what the exchange consisted of, and what was happening politically when it occurred.
The Detective and the Investigation
We then heard from Detective Jake Scott of the Kirtland Police Department about how he investigated the messages and reached the conclusion that they supported a telecommunications harassment charge.
Scott described using phone information, online searches, and other investigative resources to connect the number to Byrnes. He reviewed the screenshots, prepared the paperwork, and sought an arrest warrant.
The defense’s cross-examination focused in part on how much of the political context he had investigated.
Scott had come across the Rooster’s reporting about Cirino, but he explained that he primarily used that material to help identify Byrnes. When questioned about whether he investigated the connection between the messages and the same-day news of Cirino’s withdrawal from the Senate presidency contest, he acknowledged that he had not pursued that.
The defense also questioned why police sought an arrest warrant for a misdemeanor rather than a summons requiring Byrnes to appear in court. Scott described pursuing arrest warrants as the department’s practice during his time there.
There was cross-examination and redirect, and by then we were approaching the end of the afternoon.
Day Two, and Trying to Keep It Together
A little before 5 p.m., Judge Michael Cicconetti adjourned until 9:30 tomorrow morning. He indicated that he expected the case to finish around noon. I assume we’ll hear from the defense’s witnesses as the proceedings continue.
I’m not going back in person tomorrow, but I plan to watch live. I believe Ohio Political News will be streaming again. If so, I’ll watch and write up my conclusions afterward. This was only day one.
If you watch their recording of today’s proceedings, I promise you’ll hear some giggling from the back. You’ll hear me and a couple of other people trying to keep it together every time the discussion returned to Shrek masturbating with a big green erection.
Trust me, it was hard to keep a straight face sometimes.
I went there expecting to give the Rooster a fist bump and head to physical therapy. Instead, I spent the afternoon listening to testimony about a senator’s cellphone, political commentary, a police investigation, and Shrek’s dick. And through all of it, that woman’s comment on the way into the courtroom stayed with me.
Hey Matt, thank you for covering the story, buuuuut….:). I could have saved you a few keystrokes:). I was there too - we exchanged a go Guards - and what I heard and saw was simply this. Minion Drtrctive wants to please Bossman Police Chief who is a cronie of powerful State Senator who controls State Budget purse strings and was pissed off by gadfly blogger. So minion Detective quickly makes a case to fit the charges and not the facts! The case CLEARLY shows that NO ONE is safe in this environment from unjust prosecution and persecution at the whim of a person with political power. Just ask the Fishermen of the Caribbean:(. Now for DJ’s sake, I hope his 12 peers in the jury box saw it as clearly as I did:). It is a terrible shame that of our local mainstream media, with the exception of Channel 5’s camera appear to be interested in covering a case in their wheelhouse - The First Amendment!!! Then again, Rooster runs rings around them anyway! I think that should be YOUR story! Anyway, in closing thank you for doing what you are doing! P.S. next time you and Carl need to shed your hats earlier so one can recognize you:) I would have loved to come over and introduced myself and thank you both for your good works!
PPS STAY ANGRY MY FRIEND!