Opinion ID: 1134382
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: did the trial judge err in excluding members of the public from the entire trial?

Text: In the case sub judice, the State moved that the public be excluded from the courtroom during Ann's testimony. The defense objected on the basis of the defendant's right to a public trial. The record as supplemented indicates that an informal hearing was held in the judge's chambers. At that informal hearing, the district attorney requested that the public be excluded from the courtroom during the victim's testimony. The basis for the exclusion, according to the State, was that the victim was extremely sensitive. The district attorney also cited the Mississippi Constitution, Article 3, Section 26 (1890) which provides: In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall have a right to be heard by himself or counsel, or both, to demand the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted by the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and in all prosecutions by indictment or information, a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the county where the offense was committed; and he shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself; but in prosecutions for rape, adultery, fornication, sodomy or crime against nature the court may, in its discretion, exclude from the courtroom all persons except such as are necessary in the conduct of the trial. (Emphasis added) The appellant, however, objected to the exclusion of the public based on the right to a public trial provided by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court sustained the State's motion and articulated the following reasons for excluding the public during the victim's testimony: Ann was a virgin at the time of the rape; Ann was an extremely religious and sheltered young girl who was extremely sensitive; Ann's feelings of humiliation and her anticipation of public scrutiny had influenced her to drop the case at one point; Ann had great difficulty in expressing herself and Ann refused to say the words penis and vagina in front of the public present in the courtroom. On appeal Lee continues to maintain that the lower court's action violated his right to a public trial. In replying to the assignment of error, we first find that the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, Article 3, Section 26, as set forth above, by express language authorizes the exclusion of the public when the prosecution is for rape as in the case sub judice. However, the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution additionally protects the right to a public trial as follows: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining Witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. (Emphasis added) The Sixth Amendment contains no exclusion of the public for any purpose, but in a number of cases, federal courts have recognized that the Federal Constitutional right to a public trial in a criminal case may be limited by exclusion of spectators to the extent necessary to avoid embarrassment or emotional disturbance to a witness which might result from that witness giving testimony in a particular case. See, e.g., United States, ex rel. Latimore v. Sielaff, 561 F.2d 691, passim (7th Cir.1977), cert. den. 434 U.S. 1076, 98 S.Ct. 1266, 55 L.Ed.2d 782 (1978) (court closed to the public during testimony of twenty-one year-old rape victim [press was allowed to remain]); Harris v. Stephens, 361 F.2d 888, 891 (8th Cir.1966), cert. den. sub nom, Harris v. Bishop, 386 U.S. 964, 87 S.Ct. 1040, 18 L.Ed.2d 113 (1967) (closing of rape trial to the public during testimony of the twenty-three year-old victim); Benedict v. People, 23 Colo. 126, 128-29, 46 P. 637 (1896) (in a trial for sodomy, the judge properly excluded the general public); Douglas v. State, 328 So.2d 18, 20-21 (Fla. 1976); cert. den. 429 U.S. 871, 97 S.Ct. 185, 50 L.Ed.2d 151 (1976) (court closed to general public during witness' testimony concerning forced sex acts [press allowed to remain]); State v. Callahan, 100 Minn. 63, 69, 110 N.W. 342 (1907) (upheld clearing of courtroom of spectators when rape victim found it difficult to testify in front of a large crowd). The trial judge held an evidentiary hearing and made findings sufficient to exclude members of the public from the trial during the victim's testimony. Further, court officials, the appellant, legal counsel and, of course, the jury were never excluded from the courtroom. We hold that this meets the requirements of the Sixth Amendment. The three assignments of error are without merit.