Opinion ID: 2543392
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: use of a plain-clothes security guard

Text: Bloom contends he was deprived of his rights to due process and a fair trial when the presence of a security guard prejudiced the jury into believing he was in custody and prone to violence. Bloom contends that upon Bloom being called to testify, a security guard sat next to him until defense counsel approached the bench and the trial judge instructed the security guard to move behind the bench and away from the jury's view. Central to the right to a fair trial, guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, is the principle that one accused of a crime is entitled to have guilt or innocence determined solely on the basis of the evidence introduced at trial, and not on grounds of official suspicion, indictment, continued custody, or other circumstances not adduced as proof at trial. Taylor v. Kentucky, 436 U.S. 478, 485, 56 L. Ed.2d 468, 98 S. Ct. 1930 (1978). Whenever a courtroom arrangement is challenged as being inherently prejudicial to a criminal defendant, the question is not whether jurors actually articulate a consciousness of some prejudicial effect, but rather whether there exists an unacceptable risk of impermissible factors influencing the jury. State v. Davidson, 264 Kan. 44, 51, 954 P.2d 702 (1998). The record of trial contained no mention of this incident. The issue was first raised in Bloom's motion for new trial. In denying Bloom's motion for new trial on this ground, the trial judge noted that at all times the defendant and the security guards were in suits and that there was nothing to indicate Bloom was in custody. The judge noted that Bloom was never handcuffed in the presence of jurors, nor was he, to the judge's knowledge, ever escorted in the presence of the jurors. The judge noted that the security guard was moved several feet away from Bloom when this was brought to the court's attention. The judge commended the Department of Corrections for doing such a good job and found that Bloom's due process rights were not violated. Bloom did not object to the presence of the security guard, and the record does not contain any discussion of the matter. A defendant bears the burden of furnishing a record that affirmatively shows prejudicial error occurred. Absent such a record, an appellate court presumes the action of the trial court was proper. State v. Moncla, 262 Kan. 58, 68, 936 P.2d 727 (1997). Assertions in appellate briefs are not sufficient to satisfy inadequacies in the record on appeal. Hill v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. , 263 Kan. 703, 706, 952 P.2d 1286 (1998). Thus, this issue was not preserved for appeal.