Opinion ID: 2629972
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Spectator Misconduct

Text: Defendant contends continuing and unchecked spectator misconduct violated his right to a fair trial and a trial by an impartial jury, in violation of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. He refers to the following circumstances. After the jury rendered its guilty verdict, defendant requested an evidentiary hearing and moved for new trial on the basis of spectator misconduct he asserted occurred during trial. In support, he offered the declarations of Defense Attorney Lyons, defense investigator Michael Sailors, and defendant's wife, Carolyn Cornwell. In his declaration, Defense Counsel Lyons stated that spectators had burst into the courtroom during the defense closing argument, and that spectators had rolled their eyes and sighed audibly. He believed the spectators were attempting to influence the jury. Sailors declared that he had observed constant whispered remarks, snickers, laughter and gasps of disbelief from both Ms. Reagan [the victim's daughter] and Ms. Scott [the owner of Cashland], and similar activity from the group seated in front of them during certain defense testimony. He believed the remarks could have been overheard by the jurors, who seemed to redouble their attention to the testimony during these episodes  possibly, Sailors believed, in order to shut out the disturbance. Defendant's wife stated in her declaration that she observed members of the victim's family gesturing, whispering, and frowning in response to testimony. She observed Ms. Scott, who was the owner of Cashland and was the victim's romantic partner, leave her seat briefly during prosecution witness Erickson's testimony, then greet and touch Erickson as she left the courtroom. Mrs. Cornwell also claimed one juror observed Ms. Scott making a dismissive gesture and statement concerning questions put to Roland Johnson during defense cross-examination  questions related to Johnson's potential access to information concerning the crime through newspaper reports. Mrs. Cornwell declared that Ms. Scott gasped, sighed, and shook her head visibly during testimony she found objectionable and that, addressing a spectator seated behind her, she stated: you think he would just jump up saying I did it, I did it. According to Mrs. Cornwell, Ms. Scott was admonished by the prosecutor to stop conversing about the case with the other spectator. Mrs. Cornwell stated that, when the prosecutor remarked in closing argument that defendant had underestimated Reagan, Ms. Scott audibly said that's right. The prosecutor opposed defendant's motion for an evidentiary hearing and for a new trial, noting that because the jurors' mental processes were not subject to inquiry, an evidentiary hearing could establish only whether or not the jurors observed the alleged misconduct. The prosecutor made an offer of proof based upon his own observations, stating that (1) the juror referred to in Mrs. Cornwell's declaration who allegedly observed Ms. Scott's dismissive gesture was an alternate who did not serve during the guilt phase deliberations; and (2) the prosecutor's admonition to Ms. Scott occurred in response to a conversation he had witnessed on an occasion when the jury was not present in the courtroom. The prosecutor reminded the court that it had witnessed the alleged disturbance during defense counsel's closing argument, and contended the incident had been inadvertent and at most had constituted a brief distraction. The comment made during the prosecutor's closing argument wasn't a loud outburst of screaming, but you could hear it. That was the only thing I heard throughout the entire trial. And I . . . thought the Court heard it, because I thought you mentioned something to the people who were here present in court afterwards. Make sure you keep it down, something to that effect. The prosecutor urged: I'm asking this court to assume that they [the jurors] did observe some of these items and to rule that because of the nature of them and trivial nature of them, that there's no substantial likelihood that could have possibly influenced the jury. The court carefully described the layout of the courtroom for the record. It noted that it frequently had glanced at counsel during trial, and at those times could not help but observe the spectators. The court pointed to the prosecutor's invitation to the court to assume the defense allegations were true, noting that the concession eliminated the need for an evidentiary hearing to resolve material, disputed issues of fact. The court also commented that [t]he persons necessary to shed light on the actual physical actions are all available to the [c]ourt without the jury having to come forward. It also commented upon the potentially disruptive effect of examining the jury between the conclusion of the guilt phase and commencement of its continued service during the penalty phase. The court denied the defense's motion for an evidentiary hearing. The court subsequently denied a motion for new trial based upon the alleged misconduct, [7] explaining that it was aware of the overall conduct [of spectators] and the overall impact that the matter would have and therefore was in a unique position to interpret the otherwise undisputed facts. As to each allegation, the court commented that, to the extent it witnessed the events, they were minor and innocuous in their impact. For example, the court stated that when the spectators entered the courtroom during defense closing argument, they did not burst in but merely entered, permitting the noise from the hallway to penetrate the courtroom. The court found that the statement that's right, made by a spectator during the prosecutor's closing argument, could be heard only as a soft sibilant at the front of the courtroom. The court acknowledged it had admonished the spectators concerning courtroom demeanor, but stated this had occurred after the bailiff noted there had been a great deal of eye rolling. The court characterized Ms. Scott's demeanor and behavior during trial as polite and quiet, and added that the jury would not interpret any comments made by her as based on personal knowledge, because she did not witness the crime. As for the remaining alleged incidents, the court did not observe them but, accepting each of them as true, concluded they were minor and innocuous, as the court explained at length. The court also commented that it had observed the jury frequently during the trial, and that the jurors always seemed attentive and never distracted by events involving the spectators. Having compared the allegations with those in other cases, including People v. Hill (1992) 3 Cal.4th 959, 13 Cal.Rptr.2d 475, 839 P.2d 984 (disapproved on another ground in Price v. Superior Court (2001) 25 Cal.4th 1046, 1069, fn. 13, 108 Cal.Rptr.2d 409, 25 P.3d 618), the court concluded there is no substantial likelihood, there is no likelihood whatsoever that anything that occurred during this [trial] deprived the [d]efendant of a fair trial and meets the standards applicable to granting a new trial pursuant to Penal Code section 1181 or any [c]onstitutional standard for due process of law. Although spectator misconduct constitutes a ground for new trial if the misconduct is of such a character as to prejudice the defendant or influence the verdict, the trial court must be accorded broad discretion in evaluating the effect of claimed spectator misconduct. ( People v. Lucero (1988) 44 Cal.3d 1006, 1022, 245 Cal.Rptr. 185, 750 P.2d 1342.) The reason is obvious: the court ordinarily is present in the courtroom at any time when a spectator engages in an outburst or other misconduct in the jury's presence and is in the best position to evaluate the impact of such conduct on the fairness of the trial. (See, e.g., Messer v. Kemp (11th Cir.1985) 760 F.2d 1080, 1087.) We believe the trial court in the present case acted within its discretion in concluding that the alleged spectator misconduct was not of the sort that would be prejudicial and influence the verdict. As the court explained, defendant assumed that the jury witnessed various alleged acts of misconduct or viewed the events as disruptive or prejudicial. From its own observations, however, the court was satisfied that defendant's assumptions were unjustified and that the effect of the incidents was innocuous or, at most, trivial. [8] The trial court's proper exercise of discretion also is illustrated by a comparison of these incidents with other cases that uphold the discretion of trial courts in the face of claims of spectator misconduct. In Lucero, for example, the anguished mother of a child murder victim screamed incriminating information to the jury as it departed for deliberation and was removed from the courtroom, still screaming. ( People v. Lucero, supra, 44 Cal.3d at p. 1022, 245 Cal.Rptr. 185, 750 P.2d 1342.) Although the conduct in the Lucero case was far more dramatic than anything alleged in the present case, we determined the court acted within its discretion in denying a motion for mistrial. ( Id., at pp. 1023-1024, 245 Cal.Rptr. 185, 750 P.2d 1342; see also People v. Hill, supra, 3 Cal.4th at p. 1002, 13 Cal.Rptr.2d 475, 839 P.2d 984.) In the present case, although more than one incident was alleged and, unlike the situation in Lucero, there was no pointed admonition from the court, defendant does not claim that the spectators actually attempted to convey information to the jury; there was no dramatic, anguished outburst, and the spectator conduct, even taking defendant's claims at face value, was not particularly disruptive or likely to influence the jury. As defendant concedes, prejudice is not presumed when spectators misbehave during trial; rather, the defendant must establish prejudice. He was unable to do so in the trial court and has failed in this court as well. [9] Defendant also claims a denial of due process occurred because the alleged spectator misconduct undermined the fairness of the fact-finding process. The record, which establishes the limited nature and impact of any misconduct, refutes this claim.