The man accused of stalking Ashanti just couldn’t keep quiet during jury selection for his trial yesterday, making one person so uncomfortable that he asked to leave.

Devar Hurd is representing himself against allegations that he harassed the R&B singer and her family and sent her explicit messages on Twitter at one point.

“Excuse my attire. I been in the pens for 12 hours. Just letting you know,” he said, addressing potential jurors in court Thursday (Dec. 12). The amateur comedy routine got a laugh out of the group, although his antics didn’t sit well with another man, who asked to be excused. 

“Your honor, I can’t treat this case fairly with this guy representing himself,” the man said. 

Hurd explained why he’s representing himself. “It’s not because I wanted to. I had three attorneys. I fired them all,” he said. 

The hearing was held to look for possible bias within the jury selection, but Hurd went off on his own tangents. “The charge that I’m quote unquote guilty of — they trumped up the stalking charge!” 

A judge warned Hurd to stay on topic. He apologized, and said, “I’m trying.”

Hurd will be back in court Monday for opening statements. Ashanti is expected to testify at the trial.

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