Opinion ID: 658551
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Locking the Courtroom Doors During Jury Instruction

Text: 21 We next turn to petitioner's challenge of the state trial judge's decision to lock the courtroom doors while instructing the jury. Petitioner claims that he was deprived of a fair and public trial as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment and applicable to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See In re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257, 271-72, 68 S.Ct. 499, 506-07, 92 L.Ed. 682 (1948). In denying petitioner's request that the doors remain unlocked, the trial judge noted that 22 our custom [in Connecticut] has been not to disturb the contact of the judge to the jury, and the jury listening to the judge giving instructions. The hearing is still public. If people want to come in prior to the start of instructions, they are permitted. But ... to have suddenly a group come in, that distracts the jurors from what the judge is instruction [sic], and results in the jury not getting everything and having to then ask again to be instructed. 23 We need not delay long on whether locking the doors violated the Constitution because the trial judge's order in this case did not effect a closure for Sixth Amendment purposes. In United States v. Romano, 684 F.2d 1057, 1065 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1016, 103 S.Ct. 375, 74 L.Ed.2d 509 (1982), we rejected as frivolous a claim that the defendants were deprived of a public trial because the courtroom doors were locked during the judge's charge to the jury. We thought the restriction to be reasonable in order to ensure that the jury was instructed without distraction, and held that no closure had occurred because members of the public had access to the courtroom before the doors were locked, and were present when the charge was delivered. Id. We therefore found that the Sixth Amendment right to a public trial was not implicated. 24 Petitioner claims that our reasoning in Romano has been undermined by the later Supreme Court decisions in Waller v. Georgia, 467 U.S. 39, 104 S.Ct. 2210, 81 L.Ed.2d 31 (1984), and Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, 464 U.S. 501, 104 S.Ct. 819, 78 L.Ed.2d 629 (1984). Press-Enterprise held that the press and public had a presumptive First Amendment right of access to trials which could be overcome only by an overriding interest based on findings that closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. 464 U.S. at 510, 104 S.Ct. at 824. The Court further held that [t]he interest is to be articulated along with findings specific enough that a reviewing court can determine whether the closure order was properly entered. Id. Waller extended the procedures announced in Press-Enterprise to cover the accused's right to a public trial under the Sixth Amendment as well. See Waller, 467 U.S. at 47, 104 S.Ct. at 2215-16; Jones v. Robinson, 809 F.2d 946, 952-53 (2d Cir.1987) (Kearse, J., concurring) (discussing the evolution of the legal standards). 25 While it is clear that Waller reflects an expansion of the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a public trial, it is equally clear that Waller is distinguishable from the case at bar. In both Press-Enterprise and Waller the trial court had ordered complete exclusion of the public from the proceedings. See Waller, 467 U.S. at 42, 104 S.Ct. at 2213 (suppression hearing closed to all persons other than witnesses, court personnel, the parties, and the lawyers); Press-Enterprise, 64 U.S. at 510, 104 S.Ct. at 824 (public excluded from all but three days of six week voir dire and transcripts not released afterwards). Here, by contrast, spectators had unrestricted courtroom access throughout the trial, including the jury charge, as long as they arrived before it began. For those who arrived late, transcripts of the jury charge were available. Petitioner's trial was therefore public within the meaning of the Sixth Amendment. 26 For similar reasons, our decision in Woods v. Kuhlmann, 977 F.2d 74 (2d Cir.1992), is inapposite. In Woods, we upheld the trial court's exclusion of the defendant's family from the courtroom during a key prosecution witness's testimony because the witness was too intimidated to testify while they were in attendance. All other members of the press and public were allowed to remain. We distinguished Waller on the ground that excluding the defendant's family effected only a partial closure, and a partial closure did not implicate the same secrecy and fairness concerns that a total closure does. Id. at 76. We held that to justify a partial closure the trial court need only articulate a substantial reason, as opposed to the overriding interest required by Waller for complete closures. Id. 27 Woods does not apply because here the trial judge's actions did not amount even to a partial closure. All members of the public or press who wanted to observe the jury charge were permitted to do so if there was enough space in the courtroom and they arrived in time. Petitioner argues that some members of the press or public might not be able to attend locked jury charges because most people operate under time constraints and therefore cannot commit to remaining in the courtroom throughout the reading of the charge. However, the Sixth Amendment protects the right to a public trial; it does not guarantee that trials will be conducted to fit the schedules of all who wish to attend. 28 Reasonable time, place, and manner limitations on access to the courtroom are permitted to ensure the fair and efficient administration of justice. See Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 581 n. 18, 100 S.Ct. 2814, 2830 n. 18, 65 L.Ed.2d 973 (1980) (plurality opinion). The trial judge's order was reasonable in light of his articulated purpose for locking the courtroom doors--to avoid jury distraction while the charge was being delivered. Petitioner's trial was therefore never closed in violation of the Sixth Amendment, and his claim that he was denied a public trial must fail.