Opinion ID: 2629208
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Admonishment to Trial Spectators

Text: On two occasions, the trial court admonished trial spectators to refrain from particular conduct. Thomas argues that his convictions should be overturned because certain spectators' conduct prejudiced the jury, denying him a fair trial. He also contends that the trial court should not have admonished the spectators in the presence of the jury since that only further emphasized the conduct. In the presence of the jury, the trial court told those in the gallery: do not make comments, do not make gestures, do not say anything that might influence the jury. If I see this or I hear this, I will have you removed. RP at 4559. Later in the trial, the court was made aware that Geist's mother had a framed photograph of him with her in the courtroom. There was no allegation that the jury had seen the photograph; in fact, Hall had kept the photo inside her jacket. In response to this, outside the presence of the jury, the court again admonished the gallery to refrain from gesturing and remarking on the case so that the jury could remain uninfluenced by such conduct. The court was trying to minimize prejudice to Thomas's case by cautioning the spectators regarding the ramifications of their actions. As to the first admonishment, no particular gesture or remark was described, nor was an individual spectator singled out. Thomas has made no showing of prejudice. While Thomas alleges prejudice as to the first admonishment, he makes no argument as to why the second admonishment was prejudicial or that the jury saw the photo. As noted above, the record does not reflect that the jury saw the photograph. We hold there was no error in the trial court's admonishments to the spectators.