Opinion ID: 705951
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Prison Clothes

Text: 59 The first issue Duckett presents is whether his fundamental right to a fair sentencing hearing was violated when the trial court forced him to appear before the sentencing jury dressed in prison clothing. 60 It is clear that a court cannot, without violating the Due Process Clause, compel an accused to wear identifiable prison clothing during his trial. Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 96 S.Ct. 1691, 48 L.Ed.2d 126 (1976). This is because the practice furthers no essential state interest, and the constant reminder of the accused's condition implicit in such distinctive, identifiable attire may affect a juror's judgment and impair the presumption of innocence, which is a basic component of a fair trial under our system of criminal justice. Id. at 503, 504-05, 96 S.Ct. at 1692-93, 1693-94. 61 The presumption of innocence, however, no longer applies in the penalty phase of a bifurcated trial. At the penalty phase, the defendant stands convicted. His condition as a prisoner is no surprise to the jury, which just found him guilty. Prison clothing cannot be considered inherently prejudicial when the jury already knows, based upon other facts, that the defendant has been deprived of his liberty. See Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. at 507, 96 S.Ct. at 1694 (recognizing that [n]o prejudice can result from seeing that which is already known) (quotations and citations omitted); United States v. Stewart, 20 F.3d 911, 916 (8th Cir.1994) (holding that when circumstances permit shackling defendant during trial, compelling defendant also to wear prison clothing is not inherently prejudicial because his condition as a prisoner is already apparent to the jury); United States ex rel. Stahl v. Henderson, 472 F.2d 556, 556-57 (5th Cir.) (holding that, where defendant was charged with murdering another prisoner while confined in prison, no prejudice resulted from trying him in jail clothes), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 971, 93 S.Ct. 2166, 36 L.Ed.2d 694 (1973). 62 We conclude the fact Duckett was compelled to wear prison clothing at his sentencing hearing could not have undermined the fairness of that proceeding, because the jury already knew--based on the trial in which it had participated and the verdict it had rendered--Duckett was a convicted murderer.