Opinion ID: 661468
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Logic

Text: 19 This second part of the experience and logic test concerns whether public access to a particular proceeding would enhance the functioning of that proceeding. This court has identified six societal interests that the Supreme Court in Richmond Newspapers found were advanced by open court proceedings, namely: 20 promotion of informed discussion of governmental affairs by providing the public with the more complete understanding of the judicial system; promotion of the public perception of fairness which can be achieved only by permitting full public view of the proceedings; providing a significant community therapeutic value as an outlet for community concern, hostility and emotion; serving as a check on corrupt practices by exposing the judicial process to public scrutiny; enhancement of the performance of all involved; and discouragement of perjury. 21 United States v. Smith, 787 F.2d at 114 (summarizing Criden, 675 F.2d at 556). 22 On a broad level, we see no reason to suspect that post-trial proceedings as a general category are any different with respect to the First Amendment right of access than the other components of a criminal trial. The Supreme Court has taken care to point out that the First Amendment question cannot be resolved solely on the label we give the event, i.e., 'trial' or otherwise. Press-Enterprise II, 478 U.S. at 7, 106 S.Ct. at 2740. See also Press-Enterprise I, 464 U.S. at 516, 104 S.Ct. at 827 (Stevens, J., concurring) (the distinction between trials and other official proceedings is not necessarily dispositive, or even important, in evaluating the First Amendment issues.) Indeed, the Ninth Circuit, speaking through then-Judge Kennedy, has concluded that there is no principled basis for affording greater confidentiality to post-trial documents and proceedings than is given to pre-trial matters. CBS, Inc. v. United States Dist. Court, 765 F.2d 823, 825 (9th Cir.1985). 23 Nor does there appear to be any policy-based justification for an across-the-board denial of the First Amendment right of access to the more narrow category of post-trial inquiries into jury misconduct. Such proceedings potentially implicate all six of the societal interests recognized in Richmond Newspapers. In particular, public access to such proceedings helps provide the public with the assurance that the system is fair to all concerned. Furthermore, cases in which there are allegations of jury misconduct probably also tend to be those cases in which the public is more likely to be suspicious of other corrupt practices. Opening the judicial process to public scrutiny discourages such practices and assures the public of the integrity of the participants in the system. Finally, public access to such proceedings will in many cases discourage perjury. Members of the public who might be able to contradict the perjured testimony of jurors will not be able to learn of the perjury unless the public and press are given access to these proceedings. 24 We are unpersuaded by the analogy between this situation and the mid-trial voir dire of jurors, which both the district court and the United States have invoked in support of closure. The United States relies primarily on the analysis in United States v. Edwards, 823 F.2d 111 (5th Cir.1987), reh'g denied, 828 F.2d 772, cert. denied, 485 U.S. 934, 108 S.Ct. 1109, 99 L.Ed.2d 270 (1988). The Edwards court found that 25 the Supreme Court's test of 'experience and logic' ... leads us, not to a facile answer, but to a quandary: the values of openness are significantly implicated in jury misconduct matters, yet the management of such matters, including control of the place and manner in which 'jury' proceedings are conducted, has historically been subject to the broad discretion of the trial court. 26 Id. at 116-17. Faced with this quandary, the court relied primarily on functional considerations. It found that mid-trial questioning of a jury--in contrast to pre-trial voir dire--has a great potential to pollute the jury as a deliberative body through the introduction of bias and the alienation of sitting jurors. The questioning and defending that takes place in such a proceeding can lead jurors to come to dislike counsel for one side, and sometimes to dislike each other. The court concluded, with little explanation, that [t]he potentially divisive effects on relationships between jurors would be exacerbated by a 'public hearing.'  Id. at 117. This, it reasoned, would make more likely the possibility of a hung jury, mistrial, or reversal on appeal. Id. 27 Whether or not one accepts the reasoning of the Edwards court, it is apparent that a mid-trial voir dire presents a distinct set of concerns. The court was persuaded by the fact that the jury would have to continue to function as a body after the investigation into misconduct was completed. It felt that publicity would jeopardize the jury's ability to do so. In this case, however, the jury had reached a verdict and no longer needed to function as a body. As a result, the factors that tipped the balance in Edwards are not present. What remains is the Fifth Circuit's observation that [t]he issue of potential juror misconduct goes to the very heart of public confidence in the fairness or appearance of fairness in judicial proceedings. Once the spectre of a tainted jury is raised, public scrutiny of the resolution of the issue is essential.... Id. at 116.