Opinion ID: 807595
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Subsequent Exclusion

Text: Jones was also absent from the courtroom on February 4. We must therefore decide whether this continued exclusion was proper, particularly in light of any efforts by Jones to reclaim his right to be present.7 The Connecticut Supreme Court held that even if Jones did attempt to return to the courtroom, the trial court’s subsequent exclusion of Jones on February 4 was not an abuse of its discretion under Allen. We hold that the high court’s conclusion did not represent an unreasonable application of Allen. Even if the trial court erroneously removed Jones on February 3, Jones’s own violent and disruptive actions thereafter prevented him from returning on February 4. Cf. Norde v. Keane, 294 F.3d 401, 413 (2d Cir. 2002) (“The fact that [the § 2254 petitioner’s] conduct may have been based on what he believed to be a compelling reason . . . does not excuse his misconduct. Allen makes clear that a defendant does not have the right to disrupt the trial proceedings.”). Although Allen permits a court to find that a defendant has constructively waived his right to be present at his own trial, the Supreme Court also expressly made clear that 7 This is the second question referred to in the certificate of appealability. 23 “[o]nce lost, the right to be present can, of course, be reclaimed as soon as the defendant is willing to conduct himself consistently with the decorum and respect inherent in the concept of courts and judicial proceedings.” 397 U.S. at 343. Thus, Jones is correct that once the trial court excluded Jones on February 3, it was required to permit him to return – but only if Jones satisfactorily demonstrated that he would not be violent or disruptive. The record shows not only that Jones failed to do so, but also that he engaged in further violent behavior that independently supported his exclusion from the courtroom, without regard to whether the initial removal was proper. On the morning of February 4, the court specifically cited Allen and noted that it believed it was permissible to exclude Jones based on his intervening misconduct. But as the Connecticut Supreme Court noted, the trial court was initially ready to permit Jones’s return on the morning of February 4. See State v. Jones, 916 A.2d at 35. However, after assessing Jones in person, a marshal reported to the court that Jones was being “somewhat confrontational toward” the marshals, and that in his “better judgment” the marshal “[could not] say that the defendant should be present in court during the proceedings.” The marshal also said that he could not “guarantee that a possible outburst won’t happen again” and that he did not “believe that Mr. Jones should be in these proceedings while they’re going on for the safety of everybody involved.” In discussion with the court, the marshal confirmed that Jones was agitated and was “still talking about yesterday.” In light of the earlier events and the marshal’s assessment, the court then “reconsider[ed]” its ruling and found that Jones, “by his disruptive behavior, 24 [had] waived any right to be present during the proceedings.” The court reiterated its concerns that bringing Jones back would be unsafe and disruptive. The Connecticut Supreme Court found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding Jones, and we cannot find that conclusion unreasonable.8 Initially, we are mindful of the Supreme Court’s guidance that “evaluating whether a rule application was unreasonable [under AEDPA] requires considering the rule’s specificity,” and that “[t]he more general the rule, the more leeway courts have in reaching outcomes in case-by-case determinations.” Yarborough v. Alvarado, 541 U.S. 652, 664 (2004). Although the right to be present at one’s own trial is a right of paramount importance, appellate courts – let alone courts considering a case on collateral review many years later – lack the direct perception of the situation that informs the trial court’s judgment. This distance from courtroom realities explains why we review decisions to exclude a defendant for abuse of discretion. When that fact-specific standard of review is viewed through the additionally “deferential lens of § 2254(d),” Knowles v. Mirzayance, 556 U.S. 111, 121 n.2 (2009), the bar to relief is a high one. See Renico v. Lett, 130 S. Ct. 8 The Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision is the “last reasoned decision,” Barker, 423 F.3d at 1091, on the question of Jones’s subsequent exclusion, and we therefore review whether the high court’s affirmance of the trial court was unreasonable. Of course, the Connecticut Supreme Court’s ruling necessarily depended in large part on facts found and judgments made in the first instance by the trial court. Thus, the instant case presents a scenario in which “the last reasoned decision adopted or substantially incorporated the reasoning from a previous decision and, as a result, it [is] reasonable for the reviewing court to look at both decisions to fully ascertain the reasoning of the last decision,” id. at 1093, even while we formally review only the final determination. See note 5, supra. 25 1855, 1865 (2010) (noting the “dual layers of deference required by AEDPA” and an underlying standard asking “whether the [trial] judge exercised sound discretion”). Applying that deferential standard to this case, we conclude that the state high court reasonably determined that the trial court had a valid basis to exclude Jones on February 4, even if he wished to return. The Connecticut Supreme Court offered three reasonable considerations to support its conclusion. See State v. Jones, 916 A.2d at 3536. First, and most importantly, it noted that Jones had reacted with serious physical violence to the court’s previous exclusion order on February 3. Id. at 35. In addition to its personal observations of Jones’s violence on the previous day, the trial court was also aware that after a previous adverse pretrial ruling, Jones had punched his hand through a Plexiglas window. Though Jones had been placed in restraints on February 4, we do not think the trial court’s concern for the safety of the lawyers, jurors, and witnesses was misguided. Second, the Connecticut Supreme Court noted that Jones had demonstrated no ability to control his temper and seemed unwilling to comply with court rulings or orders from the marshals. Id. at 35-36. This conclusion was supported by the marshal’s observation that Jones remained agitated and “confrontational,” and by the marshal’s concern that he could not guarantee the safety of courtroom personnel. Third, the Connecticut Supreme Court noted that the alternative – permitting Jones in the courtroom only in full-body restraints – presented its own difficulties. Id. at 36. As the Allen Court held, the “sight of shackles and gags might have a significant effect on the jury’s feelings about the defendant.” 397 U.S. at 344. Moreover, contrary to Jones’s argument in our 26 Court, it was not clear that Jones had consented to being shackled; his attorney had reported to the court that Jones ignored the “issue of restraints” in his discussions with counsel that morning. We conclude that the Connecticut high court’s decision was reasonable under § 2254(d). The trial court was faced with a violent and unpredictable defendant. Putting aside the evidence that he had violently assaulted Minnifield and shot Williams to death, Jones had reacted violently (albeit outside the courtroom) to one adverse ruling, and had in the court’s presence violently resisted the removal order, requiring numerous marshals to restrain him, at least one of whom was injured in the fray. He then continued his obstreperous behavior once removed, threatening the marshals and “kicking or pounding [the] walls.” Jones manifestly waived his right to be present based on the extraordinary violence he had displayed during the preceding removal. Even if the court had erred in ordering that Jones be removed from the courtroom, Jones’s proper recourse was to comply with the order and seek his return through legal argument, not to offer violent resistance. Cf. Norde, 294 F.3d at 413 (“The fact that [the § 2254 petitioner’s] conduct may have been based on what he believed to be a compelling reason . . . does not excuse his misconduct.”). All of the behavior related above was either known to, or had been personally observed by, the trial judge. Moreover, the court was entitled to rely on the marshal’s assessment that, whatever Jones might say, he remained volatile and confrontational, and continued to present a danger to persons in the courtroom. On this 27 record, we cannot say that the Connecticut Supreme Court unreasonably applied Allen in affirming the trial court.9 The case on which Jones principally relies, United States v. Ward, 598 F.3d 1054 (8th Cir. 2010), is not to the contrary. During pretrial proceedings in that case, the defendant expressed a wish to speak for himself and speak with his lawyer aloud, rather than communicate with the court through counsel and with counsel through written notes, as the court had asked him to do. Id. at 1057. The court ordered him involuntarily removed. Id. He was then excluded for the rest of his trial because defense counsel could not guarantee to the court that the defendant would remain quiet. Id. The Eighth Circuit vacated the conviction and remanded for a new trial, finding problematic both the defendant’s initial exclusion and the trial court’s reliance on the representations of 9