Title: State v. Crowley

State: utah

Issuer: Utah Supreme Court

Document:

766 P.2d 1069 (1988) STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Edison CROWLEY, Defendant and Appellant. No. 870336. Supreme Court of Utah. December 22, 1988. John R. Bucher, Salt Lake City, for defendant and appellant. David L. Wilkinson, Sandra L. Sjogren, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff and appellee. DURHAM, Justice: Defendant appeals from a conviction of forcible rape on the ground that he was denied his right to a public trial under the Utah and United States Constitutions. After the jury was sworn and opening statements were made at defendant's trial, the State made a motion to exclude from the courtroom all spectators except a Rape Crisis Center worker. Asserting that the 15-year-old complainant was nervous and frightened, the State argued that the presence of her relatives and defendant's in the *1070 courtroom would impair her ability to give testimony. The motion was based on Utah Code Ann. § 78-7-4 (1987), which provides: The motion was granted over defendant's objection on constitutional grounds, and the courtroom was cleared of all spectators, including defendant's relatives, during complainant's testimony. The issue presented here is whether the exclusion of defendant's relatives and friends, pursuant to Utah Code Ann. § 78-7-4 (1987), constituted a denial of the right to a public trial under article I, section 12 of the Utah Constitution. Because our analysis of the state constitutional question is dispositive, we do not treat the sixth amendment issue under the federal constitution. Public trials are integral to our system of criminal justice: State v. Harding, 635 P.2d 33, 35 (Utah 1981). In a long line of criminal cases beginning with State v. Jordan, 57 Utah 612, 196 P. 565 (1921), this Court has upheld an expansive view of the right to a public trial. Id. at 615, 196 P. at 566-67; see also State v. Beckstead, 96 Utah 528, 88 P.2d 461 (1939); State v. Smith, 90 Utah 482, 62 P.2d 1110 (1936); State v. Bonza, 72 Utah 177, 269 P. 480 (1928). A similar emphasis on the inherent value of public proceedings is found in this Court's treatment of the right of the public and the press to have access to court proceedings civil and criminal. See generally Society of Prof. Journalists v. Bullock, 743 P.2d 1166 (Utah 1987); KUTV, Inc. v. Wilkinson, 686 P.2d 456 (Utah 1984); Kearns-Tribune Corp. v. Lewis, 685 P.2d 515 (Utah 1984); KUTV, Inc. v. Conder, 668 P.2d 513 (Utah 1983). These cases examine the scope of the right to access under article I, section 15 of the Utah Constitution. The chief exception to the rule of openness espoused in these cases is the right of the defendant to receive a fair trial before an impartial jury. *1071 This Court has acknowledged, in addition to the exceptions designed to protect defendants' right to a fair trial, that other exceptions exist to the general rule of public access implied by article I, sections 12 and 15: State v. Harding, 635 P.2d at 36 (citations omitted). In this case, all of defendant's (as well as the victim's) relatives and friends were excluded from the courtroom during complainant's testimony on the mere verbal assertion of the prosecutor that "[the witness] is extremely uptight, very nervous, very frightened... . And I am afraid that she is going to be intimidated by them all [her family and the defendant's family] probably." The court did not examine the witness to attempt to determine her capacity to testify in public, nor did it make any findings regarding the accuracy of the prosecutor's assertions. We do not discount the possibility, even the likelihood, that the 15-year-old witness in this case found the process of testifying in court to be frightening and traumatic; most rape victims of any age do. However, before a basic constitutional right belonging to an accused may be infringed, an adequate factual and procedural predicate for need must be laid. See State v. Nelson, 725 P.2d 1353 (Utah 1986). That predicate requires at least that the trial judge receive evidence demonstrating that the witness's ability to testify or her emotional or physical health will be significantly impaired in the absence of a closure order.[1] The trial court must make specific factual findings on the record regarding the impairment before entering the order, and the order must be no more extensive than is necessary to preserve the witness's health or ability to testify. The closure order entered in this case was not supported by any evidence or findings concerning its necessity, and it was entered over defendant's objection that it violated his right to a public trial. The State's argument that we should examine this closure order for specific prejudice to defendant is contrary to well-established precedent under article I, section 12 of the Utah Constitution: State v. Jordan, 57 Utah at 616-18, 196 P. at 567-68 (citations omitted); accord State v. Beckstead, 96 Utah 528, 88 P.2d 461 (1939); State v. Bonza, 72 Utah 177, 269 P. 480 (1928). Other courts are in accord with this rule. See, e.g., Waller v. Georgia, 467 U.S. 39, 44-50, 104 S. Ct. 2210, 2214-2217, 81 L. Ed. 2d 31 (1984) (closure of hearing unjustifiable absent an overriding interest likely to be prejudiced); People v. Morgan, 152 Ill. App.3d 97, 101-03, 105 Ill.Dec. 303, 307-08, 504 N.E.2d 172, 176-77 (1987) (limited closure with family members present preserves right to a public trial); People v. Baldwin, 130 A.D.2d 666, 515 N.Y.S.2d 597, 598-99 (1987), reaff'g People v. Jones, 82 A.D.2d 674, 442 N.Y.S.2d 999, 1001-04 (1981) (defendant generally entitled to have friends and family present during criminal proceedings); State v. Holm, 67 Wyo. 360, 382-95, 224 P.2d 500, 508-12 (1950) (no reversible error where order of exclusion provided that the defendant's or the complaining witness's families or friends might remain); Neal v. State, 86 Okla. Crim. 283, 284-289, 192 P.2d 294, 295-96 (1948) (sweeping exclusion order, excluding the defendant's friends and family, cannot be sustained). We note that a formal inquiry need not necessarily be undertaken in every case in order to make adequate findings pursuant to this opinion. In cases where a testifying witness demonstrates distress throughout the course of his or her testimony, the trial judge may be in a position to draw factual conclusions from his or her observations of the witness. See People v. Jones, 442 N.Y.S.2d at 1003. "It would seem that the evidence of [the witness's] distress, revealed in this manner, was probably more reliable than if the court had simply asked the witness prior to [testifying] whether she was upset and embarrassed." Id. We likewise emphasize that properly limited exclusion orders, the need for which is justified by findings on the record, may be used to protect the trial process when clearly necessary. Unfortunately, that necessity appears nowhere in the record in this case. The judgment of conviction is reversed, and the case is remanded for a new trial. HALL, C.J., HOWE, Associate C.J., and STEWART and ZIMMERMAN, JJ., concur. [1] The level of impairment contemplated here is analogous to that required to find a witness "unavailable," for purposes of admitting the witness's hearsay testimony at trial. See Note, "The Testimony of Child Victims in Sex Abuse Prosecutions: Two Legislative Innovations," 98 Harv.L.Rev. 806 (1985).