Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/558bv.pdf
Page Number: 370.0

OCTOBER  TERM,  2009 

209 

Per  Curiam 

PRESLEY  v.  GEORGIA 

on  petition  for  writ  of  certiorari  to  the  supreme 
court of georgia 

No. 09–5270.  Decided January 19, 2010 

Petitioner  Presley  was  convicted  in  a  Georgia  state  court  of  cocaine  traf­
ﬁcking.  In  denying  his  motion  for  a  new  trial,  the  court  rejected  his 
claim  that  his  Sixth  Amendment  right  to  a  public  trial  was  violated 
when  the  court  excluded  the  public  from  the  voir  dire  of  prospective 
jurors.  Both the Georgia Court of Appeals and Georgia Supreme Court 
afﬁrmed.  The  latter  court  concluded  that  a  trial  court  need  not  con­
sider  alternatives  to  closing  a  courtroom  absent  the  opposing  party’s 
proffer of some alternatives. 

Held:  The  trial  court  erred  in  closing  voir  dire  without  considering  all 
reasonable  alternatives  to  closure.  Because  the  Sixth  Amendment 
right  to  a  public  trial  extends  to  jury  voir  dire,  Waller  v.  Georgia,  467 
U. S.  39,  46,  “the  party  seeking  to  close  the  hearing  must  advance  an 
overriding  interest  that  is  likely  to  be  prejudiced,  the  closure  must  be 
no broader than necessary to protect that interest, the trial court must 
consider  reasonable  alternatives  to  closing  the  proceeding,  and  it  must 
make ﬁndings adequate to support the closure,” id., at 48.  Even where, 
as here, the parties offer no alternatives to closure, the trial court must 
consider  alternatives  and  take  every  reasonable  measure  to  accommo­
date the public’s right to be present.  Nothing in the record shows that 
the trial court could not have accommodated the public at Presley’s trial. 
Certiorari granted; 285 Ga. 270, 674 S. E. 2d 909, reversed and remanded. 

Per Curiam. 
After a jury trial in the Superior Court of DeKalb County, 
Georgia,  petitioner  Eric  Presley  was  convicted  of  a  cocaine 
trafﬁcking offense.  The  conviction was afﬁrmed  by the Su­
preme  Court  of  Georgia.  285  Ga.  270,  674  S.  E.  2d  909 
(2009).  Presley  seeks  certiorari,  claiming  his  Sixth  and 
Fourteenth  Amendment  right  to  a  public  trial  was  violated 
when  the  trial  court  excluded  the  public  from  the  voir  dire 
of  prospective  jurors.  The  Supreme  Court  of  Georgia’s  af­
ﬁrmance contravened this Court’s clear precedents.  Certio­
rari  and  petitioner’s  motion  for  leave  to  proceed  in  forma 
pauperis are now granted, and the judgment is reversed.