Opinion ID: 2295861
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Court Procedures in General

Text: Before we evaluate these assertions, it is important to put the trial court's responsibility in perspective. It had the duty to control the proceedings in a manner calculated to assure an orderly and expeditious trial. The trial judge must meet situations as they arise and to do this must have broad power to cope with the complexities and contingencies inherent in the adversary process. . . . If truth and fairness are not to be sacrificed, the judge must exert substantial control over the proceedings. [ Geders v. United States, 425 U.S. 80, 86-87, 96 S.Ct. 1330, 1334-1335, 47 L.Ed.2d 592 (1976).] See Rosenberg v. District of Columbia, D.C. Mun.App., 66 A.2d 489, 490-91 (1949); Posey v. United States, 416 F.2d 545, 555 (5th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 946, 90 S.Ct. 964, 25 L.Ed.2d 127 (1970). We note, first, that with the exception of appellant Adam's unsuccessful motion to sever one count, see Part X.D. infra, everyone concerned accepted the fact that there was to be a joint trial of all defendants, on all charges. The court had to plan accordingly. More specifically, the court had to deal with the parties' reasonable expectation that the trial would last from four to twelve weeks (it actually lasted seven). The court had to keep in mind, too, that the jury should be sequestered. The court also had to plan for the fact that there were twelve defendants, each with his own counsel. The twelve could be expected, on occasion, to take contrary positions on evidentiary and other issues, adding a dimension of time-consuming, procedural disagreement that ordinarily would not be present if fewer defendants were on trial. On other occasions, however, the defendants could be expected to make the same objections or contentions, creating the potential for considerable repetition and unnecessary delay. In either event, therefore, the court had to anticipate a good deal of interruption in the presentation of the government's case. On the other hand, the court also had to anticipate a highly charged, emotional content to the trial, putting a special burden on the court to assure fairness to each accused. The court accordingly faced the formidable task of fashioning orderly procedures which were fair to the defendants, as well as to the government  procedures which inevitably called for regimentation. During the jury selection process, see Part III supra, the trial court had established that defense counsel would ask questions in the order of appellants' indictments, beginning with Khaalis. The court continued this procedure at trial. Next, the court required that if one defense counsel stood to object, the other eleven had to raise their hands  rather than stand  if they wished to join in objecting. The court was attempting to lessen the disruption of twelve counsel standing at once. Counsel soon protested this procedure, however, arguing that they felt silly. The court therefore modified it, stating that once one counsel had registered an objection, all the others would be deemed to concur, except for those who raised their hands to opt out. Finally, the court established early in the trial a procedure for holding a bench conference at the end of every day (or sometimes at the luncheon or other recesses), when counsel could state reasons for their objections if not already of record. In this connection, the court invited counsel, as a matter of course, to file any objection in writing if they did not believe it had been adequately addressed on the record. While accepting the trial court's duty to exert substantial control over the proceedings, Geders, supra 425 U.S. at 87, 96 S.Ct. at 1335, appellants insist that the court abused its discretion in implementing these general procedures and otherwise conducting the trial. We therefore turn to these allegations.