Opinion ID: 779400
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Merits of Williams's Shackling Claim.

Text: 79 A criminal defendant has a constitutional right to be free of shackles and handcuffs in the presence of the jury absent an essential state interest that justifies the physical restraints. Ghent v. Woodford, 279 F.3d 1121, 1132 (9th Cir.2002); Rhoden v. Rowland, 172 F.3d 633, 636 (9th Cir.1999). A claim of unconstitutional shackling is susceptible to harmless-error analysis, however. Duckett v. Godinez, 67 F.3d 734, 749 (9th Cir.1995); Castillo v. Stainer, 983 F.2d 145, 148 (9th Cir.1992), amended by 997 F.2d 669 (9th Cir.1993). An unjustified decision to restrain a defendant at trial requires reversal only if the shackles or handcuffs had substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict. Castillo, 997 F.2d at 669 (quoting Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 623, 113 S.Ct. 1710, 123 L.Ed.2d 353 (1993)). 80 After conducting an evidentiary hearing on Williams's claim that his physical restraints at trial violated his right to due process, the district court denied the claim on the ground that the use of restraints was harmless error. See Williams IV, 41 F.Supp.2d at 1047-48. The district court based its decision on the following factual findings. Although a chain restrained Williams's legs during trial, no member of the jury saw the leg chain. Williams's hands were free of restraints during trial. However, on one occasion, a juror observed Williams in handcuffs with a coat draped over his handcuffed hands as he was being taken to or from the courtroom. No other juror saw Williams in handcuffs. See id. Williams challenges these factual findings underlying the district court's denial of his claim. 81 Where there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder's choice between them cannot be clearly erroneous. Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 574, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985). We give due regard to the district court's opportunity to judge the credibility of witnesses, see Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a), and we will disturb the district court's credibility determinations or factual findings only when, on the entire evidence, we are left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. Easley v. Cromartie, 532 U.S. 234, 242, 121 S.Ct. 1452, 149 L.Ed.2d 430 (2001) (internal quotations omitted). 82 After reviewing the record, we conclude that none of the district court's factual findings are clearly erroneous. The bailiff to the trial judge provided detailed testimony about a thin, metal leg chain on Williams's ankles as he sat in court during trial. No juror indicated that Williams's legs were in restraints, however, and the bailiff stated that the jury was not able to view Williams's leg chain or feet under the defense table at trial. The bailiff also testified that Williams was brought into the courtroom and sat down at the defense table before the jury was allowed to enter, and that Williams was not allowed to stand until after the jury left. The penalty-phase jury foreman confirmed this procedure. Given this record, the district court did not clearly err in concluding that Williams's leg chain was not visible to the jury. 83 There also is no clear error in the district court's finding that Williams's hands were free of restraints in the courtroom. Williams disputes this factual finding, relying upon Juror Kellick's declaration in which she claimed to have seen Williams in handcuffs throughout the entire trial. The district court did not clearly err in disbelieving this declaration given that Juror Kellick averred in a later declaration that she had vivid memories of seeing Williams without handcuffs lots of times, and particularly remembered him writing on a yellow pad. No other juror indicated observing Williams in handcuffs in the courtroom, and the bailiff testified that Williams was not handcuffed at any point in front of the jury. 84 One juror, however, testified that he recalled seeing Williams with his hands together, as though in handcuffs, and a coat draped over his likely handcuffed hands. The juror stated that he never actually saw the handcuffs around Williams's wrists, but inferred their existence based upon how Williams was holding his hands. In light of this testimony and the other evidence in the record, the district court did not clearly err in finding that the juror must have seen Williams in handcuffs as he was being brought to or from the courtroom. 85 Even if we assume that Williams's physical restraints at trial were unjustified, we conclude that the district court properly held that the error was harmless. When the jury never saw the defendant's shackles in the courtroom, we have held that the shackles did not prejudice the defendant's right to a fair trial. See Castillo, 997 F.2d at 669 (a waist chain that could not be seen by the jury was harmless error); Packer v. Hill, 291 F.3d 569, 583 (9th Cir.2002) (no prejudice resulted from the defendant's leg brace when no juror interviewed after trial remembered seeing a leg brace on the defendant); Rich v. Calderon, 187 F.3d 1064, 1069 (9th Cir.1999) (no prejudice when the ankle chains used at trial were not visible to the jury due to a curtain draped around the defense table); United States v. Collins, 109 F.3d 1413, 1418 (9th Cir.1997) (the defendant's leg shackles were harmless error because a curtain around the defense table hid the shackles from the jury's view). Thus, the use of the leg chain at Williams's trial was harmless error. 86 We have also held that a jury's brief or inadvertent glimpse of a defendant in physical restraints outside of the courtroom does not warrant habeas relief unless the petitioner makes an affirmative showing of prejudice. See Ghent, 279 F.3d at 1133 (the jurors' occasional, brief glimpses of the defendant in handcuffs and other restraints in the hallway at the entrance to the courtroom was not prejudicial); United States v. Olano, 62 F.3d 1180, 1190 (9th Cir.1995) (a jury's brief or inadvertent glimpse of a defendant in physical restraints is not inherently or presumptively prejudicial to a defendant); Castillo, 983 F.2d at 148 (no prejudice when, during transport to or from the courtroom, some members of the jury pool saw the defendant in shackles in the court corridor); United States v. Halliburton, 870 F.2d 557, 560-62 (9th Cir.1989) (jurors' inadvertent observation of the defendant in handcuffs in the corridor did not prejudicially impair the defendant's right to a fair trial); Wilson v. McCarthy, 770 F.2d 1482, 1485-86 (9th Cir.1985) (the jury's brief viewing of defendant's shackles as he left the witness stand at the conclusion of his testimony was not prejudicial). Accordingly, the juror's viewing of Williams in handcuffs with a coat draped over his handcuffed hands as he went to or from the courtroom was not inherently or presumptively prejudicial. Williams has made no showing of actual prejudice from this sighting, and as the district court noted, the fact that a coat covered Williams's handcuffs minimized any possible prejudice. See Williams IV, 41 F.Supp.2d at 1048. We therefore affirm the district court's denial of Williams's claim of unconstitutional shackling. 87