Opinion ID: 1820473
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the presence of the victim's daughter within the rail throughout the trial

Text: Rule 501 of the Mississippi Uniform Criminal Rules of Circuit Court Practice reads in part: Only officers of the court, attorneys and litigants or one representative of a litigant in the case on trial will be permitted within the rail of the courtroom, unless authorized by court. The rule then goes on to temper whatever discretion it has vested within the trial judge with the admonition No conduct interferring with or obstructing the administration of justice will be tolerated. One of the polestar considerations in affording a defendant a fair trial is that no one be punished for a crime without a charge fairly made and fairly tried in a public tribunal free of prejudices, passion, excitement, and tyrannical power. Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333, 350, 86 S.Ct. 1507, 1516, 16 L.Ed.2d 600, 613 (1966) quoting Chambers v. Florida, 309 U.S. 227, 236-237, 60 S.Ct. 472, 477, 84 L.Ed. 716, 722 (1940). In the instant case, Brenda Winstead, Mrs. Gunter's daughter, was the first witness for the state. Immediately after she completed her testimony Mrs. Winstead took a seat within the rail of the courtroom to the right of and slightly behind the district attorney's seat at counsel table. This placed her between the prosecutor and the bailiff and facing the jury box. Defense counsel objected immediately to Mrs. Winstead remaining within the rail of the courtroom; however, the trial court ruled that Each side is entitled to have one member of his family present within the railing of the court. The defense repeated its objection during the guilt phase of trial, and before and after the sentencing phase. Each time it was overruled. The final objection included the following comment by defense counsel: MR. BUCKLEY: If the Court please, and I don't know if the Court remembers, but at the outset of the trial I objected to the State's first witness sitting in the courtroom, and in effect at the counsel table. She is seated just to the right of the District Attorney, and what I wanted the record to reflect is that she has continued to sit there throughout the course of the trial and has exhibited emotion in the presence of the jury and conferred with the District Attorney throughout the trial on  I said throughout  on several occasions during the course of the trial, and sat right at his immediate right throughout the trial. The court replied that there would be no need to put on proof and that there's no dispute by the court. In fact, the court will affirm that that is correct. Regardless, the court overruled the defense's objections. The state responds by stating that it finds Fuselier's argument amusing. We fail to see the humor. There can be no graver proceeding than when a human being is put on trial for his or her life. The right to a fair trial includes the right to a verdict based on the evidence and not extraneous prejudicial happenings in and around the courtroom. Sheppard, supra ; Chambers, supra . In numerous contexts this Court has held that a verdict based on anything other than the evidence of the crime is tainted and where it is the result of bias, passion or prejudice it cannot be allowed to stand. Sumrall v. State, 257 So.2d 853, 854 (Miss. 1972), appeal after remand, 272 So.2d 917, 919 (Miss. 1973), (prosecutors should refrain from doing or saying anything that would cause the jury to return a verdict on matters other than evidence relative to the crime); Sloane v. State, 437 So.2d 16, 18 (Miss. 1983), (evidence of other crimes is generally inadmissible); Howell v. State, 246 So.2d 95, 96, cert. denied, 404 U.S. 852, 92 S.Ct. 90, 30 L.Ed.2d 92 (Miss. 1971), (change of venue is appropriate to protect a defendant from a verdict which is the result of public excitement and prejudice); Coker v. State, 200 Miss. 535, 540, 27 So.2d 898, 900 (Miss. 1946), (the solution of jury issues must be safeguarded so that the verdict may be confidently regarded as the product of the law and the evidence uninfluenced by any extraneous pressure); Perkins v. State, 244 So.2d 414, 415 (Miss. 1971), (a conversation between a juror and a witness following the witness's testimony constituted grounds for mistrial). We conclude that Mrs. Winstead's presence at the counsel table cannot be justified by Rule 501 of the Uniform Criminal Rules of Circuit Court Practice and further that it constituted an inflamatory and prejudicial element. With reference to Rule 501, Mrs. Winstead was neither an officer of the court, attorney, litigant or representative of a litigant. Her presence at counsel table and open display of emotion [2] presented the jury with the image of a prosecution acting on behalf of Mrs. Winstead. Because such an erroneous view can all too easily lead to a verdict based on vengence and sympathy as opposed to reasoned application of rules of law to the facts we conclude that the trial court should not have permitted Mrs. Winstead to remain within the bar of the courtroom.