Opinion ID: 200745
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The September 11 Tragedy

Text: 10 On September 11, after opening statements, the district court informed the jurors of the events that had transpired in New York City and Washington D.C. that morning, and suspended the proceedings because the courthouse in Springfield was closed for security reasons. The courthouse remained closed the next day because of a widely-publicized bomb threat. When the defendants' trial resumed on September 13, Capelton and White immediately moved for a mistrial on two grounds. As a general matter, they asserted that the jurors would be unable to maintain their focus on their case given the chaos and uncertainty arising from the events of the previous two days. More importantly, counsel argued that the media's portrayal of the attacks and the military response as a battle of good versus evil established a particularly prejudicial environment for defendants accused of committing evil acts. In counsels' view, this prejudice was exacerbated by defendants' reliance on a strategy of discrediting law enforcement officers and federal agents whose colleagues were perceived as heroes in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks. 11 A district court's denial of a motion for mistrial is reviewed for abuse of discretion. United States v. Lee, 317 F.3d 26, 34 (1st Cir.2003); United States v. Rivera-Gomez, 67 F.3d 993, 998 (1st Cir.1995). In response to defendants' request, the judge voir dired each juror individually, and excused the only juror who indicated that the September 11 attacks might alter his attitude toward the case. The court also issued a lengthy instruction to the jury as a whole both before resuming the proceedings, and again at the close of the evidence. These instructions admonished the jurors that the events of September 11 12 cannot influence how you evaluate witnesses, and ... you may not permit these events to influence your deliberations or decision in any way. Both the defendants and the public expect that you will fairly and impartially consider all the evidence in the case, follow the law as stated by the court and reach a just verdict. 13 The court proceeded with an abundance of caution in the wake of September 11. In the absence of particularized allegations of prejudice from defendants, we find no evidence that they were denied their Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury, and accordingly conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendants' motion for a mistrial. 14