Opinion ID: 2486429
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: Removals from the Courtroom

Text: Next, McCRAY argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for mistrial immediately following the guilt-phase charging conference, during which McCRAY pointed to the cumulative effect of ... the removals and or his testimony. This Court has repeatedly held that [it] reviews a trial court's ruling on a motion for mistrial under an abuse of discretion standard. Salazar v. State, 991 So.2d 364, 371 (Fla.2008). Such a motion should be granted only when it is necessary to ensure that the defendant receives a fair trial, Cole v. State, 701 So.2d 845, 853 (Fla.1997), and when an error is so prejudicial as to vitiate the entire trial, England, 940 So.2d at 402. Under this claim, McCRAY essentially argues that the trial court's decision to repeatedly remove him from the courtroom during trial and his own direct examination caused disruption, affected the fairness of the proceeding, and warranted the granting of a mistrial. [I]t is essential to the proper administration of criminal justice that dignity, order, and decorum be the hallmarks of all court proceedings.... Johnston v. State, 27 So.3d 11, 28 (Fla.) (quoting Illinois v. Allen, 397 U.S. 337, 343, 90 S.Ct. 1057, 25 L.Ed.2d 353 (1970)), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 459, 178 L.Ed.2d 292 (2010). To that end, in order to prevent an obstreperous defendant from disrupting trial, trial courts may be justified in removing that defendant from the courtroom. See Allen, 397 U.S. at 343, 90 S.Ct. 1057 (The flagrant disregard in the courtroom of elementary standards of proper conduct should not and cannot be tolerated. We believe trial judges confronted with disruptive, contumacious, stubbornly defiant defendants must be given sufficient discretion to meet the circumstances of each case.); see also Valdes v. State, 626 So.2d 1316, 1321 (Fla.1993) (pronouncing that [t]rial judges must be given sufficient discretion to meet the circumstances of each case where a defendant disrupts the proceedings and that courts are justified in keeping defendant out of courtroom until satisfied that he would not further disrupt proceedings (internal quotation marks omitted)). In the case at bar, it is apparent from the record that the trial court did not arbitrarily decide to remove McCRAY from the courtroom. Rather, McCRAY's misbehavior appeared to be volitional and continued notwithstanding the trial court's repeated admonitions to remain silent. It also appears that each time McCRAY was actually removed, the trial court ensured that it was done outside of the jury's presence. Further, while McCRAY was in the holding cell during the course of trial, defense counsel had the opportunity to meet with McCRAY after each witness testified. The court even permitted McCRAY to return to the courtroom on several occasions, and he was present for a majority of the guilt phase. Based on the record before us, and in light of McCRAY's own obstreperous conduct throughout the guilt-phase proceeding, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying McCRAY's motion for mistrial. See Knight v. State, 746 So.2d 423, 432 (Fla. 1998) (holding that trial court did not abuse its discretion in removing defendant from courtroom where defendant's consistently obstinate behavior, which he undoubtedly knew would cause his exclusion from the courtroom, also border[ed] on invited error). We note that after reviewing the entire trial record in this case, it is unquestionable that the trial court was constantly attempting to balance McCRAY's rights to a fair trial, including his presence at trial, with the need to maintain an orderly proceeding without constant interference from a defendant determined to disrupt the process. Under a similar circumstance, the Supreme Court has aptly explained this dilemma: It is not pleasant to hold that the [defendant] was properly banished from the court for a part of his own trial. But our courts, palladiums of liberty as they are, cannot be treated disrespectfully with impunity. Nor can the accused be permitted by his disruptive conduct indefinitely to avoid being tried on the charges brought against him. It would degrade our country and our judicial system to permit our courts to be bullied, insulted, and humiliated and their orderly progress thwarted and obstructed by defendants brought before them charged with crimes.... But, if our courts are to remain what the Founders intended, the citadels of justice, their proceedings cannot and must not be infected with the sort of scurrilous, abusive language and conduct paraded before the [trial court].... Allen, 397 U.S. at 346-47, 90 S.Ct. 1057. At oral argument, defense counsel agreed that McCRAY was an extremely challenging defendant and suggested that it would have been preferable for the trial judge to have simply removed McCRAY from the courtroom and instead allowed counsel to confer with McCRAY after each witness. However, defense counsel candidly conceded that if the trial judge had excluded McCRAY altogether, this would have also served as a basis for an appellate attack. We have considered the record in its entirety and conclude that under the totality of circumstances present here, the trial judge did not err in removing McCRAY from the courtroom. [13]