Opinion ID: 583672
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prison Jumpsuit

Text: 28 The defendant Martin contends that because the district court refused to issue an order allowing him to wear civilian clothes during trial, he was in effect prejudiced by being compelled to wear an MCC-issued jumpsuit. Even though the defendant Martin admits in his brief that this jumpsuit may not, by itself, be identifiable as prison garb, the fact that Lopez and Otero were present during voir dire wearing jumpsuits that were identical to Martin's enabled the jury to conclude that the jumpsuits were prison garb. Thus, Martin argues that the district court committed reversible error. 29 It is well settled that a state cannot, consistent with the accused's right to a fair trial as secured by the Fourteenth Amendment, compel a defendant to stand trial before a jury in identifiable prison attire. Tarpley v. Dugger, 841 F.2d 359, 361 (11th Cir.1988) (citing Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 96 S.Ct. 1691, 48 L.Ed.2d 126 (1976)). However, the Supreme Court in Estelle noted that the accused must timely object to being tried in prison garb and that the failure to make an objection to the court as to being tried in such [identifiable prison] clothes, for whatever reason, is sufficient to negate the presence of compulsion necessary to establish a constitutional violation. Estelle, 425 U.S. at 512-13, 96 S.Ct. at 1697 (emphasis added). The Supreme Court in Estelle reversed the Fifth Circuit's determination that the defendant had been compelled to attend trial in identifiable prison garb. The Fifth Circuit noted that the general practice at the time of the defendant's trial was that nonbailed defendants in the trial court's jurisdiction were tried in jail clothes. In reversing the Fifth Circuit, the Court stated that [n]otwithstanding the evidence as to the general practice ... there was no finding that nonbailed defendants were compelled to stand trial in prison garments if timely objection was made to the trial judge. Estelle, id. at 510, 96 S.Ct. at 1696 (emphasis added). The Court concluded: 30 Nothing in this record, therefore, warrants a conclusion that [the defendant] was compelled to stand trial in jail garb or that there was sufficient reason to excuse the failure to raise the issue before trial. 31 Id. at 512, 96 S.Ct. at 1697 (footnote omitted) (emphasis added). 32 The defendant Martin failed to object to wearing a plain/unmarked jumpsuit until after the first one-half day of trial and the completion of the voir dire. The district court responded to this objection by stating that according to a memorandum issued by the Chief Judge of the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, a request by a defendant for a suit of clothes should be made to the warden of the Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center. According to Martin's counsel, officials at the MCC refused to allow Martin to don a suit of clothes absent an order from the district court. 4 However, as the district court noted, if Martin did not want to wear government-issued clothing during his court appearance, he or his counsel should have timely raised the issue on the record before the start of trial to give the court authorities and the U.S. Marshal time to make the necessary arrangements. 33 Like the defendant in Estelle, the defendant in the case before us failed to make a timely objection. Any prejudice that may have occurred from the jury observing Martin in plain/unmarked government-issued clothing could have been prevented by the defense counsel making a timely objection to the court on the record before any trial proceedings had commenced and not waiting until the middle of the first day of trial after the entire jury selection process and the empaneling of the jury had been completed to arrange for other clothing. Obviously, even if the district court had allowed Martin to change clothes mid-trial, the defendant's counsel's failure to make a proper and timely objection on the record before any trial proceedings, would have given the jury the opportunity to observe Martin in MCC-issued clothing. Furthermore, counsel for the defendant Martin also failed to request a curative instruction from the court to reduce any alleged prejudice Martin's clothing might have had on the jury. We note also that the defendant is unable to demonstrate that the plain/unmarked jumpsuit that he wore during the two days of trial was clearly identifiable as prison clothing. 5 Unlike the defendant in Estelle whose clothes were readily identifiable and distinctively marked as prison-issue, the defendant Martin in this case wore a plain single-color jumpsuit devoid of any letters, markings, or numbers that would designate it as prison garb. As Martin notes in his brief, this jumpsuit may not, by itself, be identifiable as prison garb. However, Martin contends that because he, Lopez and Otero wore identical jumpsuits in front of the jury, [t]here can be no doubt in the jury's mind that this was prison clothing. Unlike the defendant, we are unconvinced that the jury made the inference that three co-defendants who were wearing plain single-color jumpsuits necessarily established that the clothing was prison garb. Furthermore, since the record does not support an inference that the average juror realizes that prisoners wear jumpsuits, we may not assume that the jury perceived the jumpsuits as prison uniforms in view of the district court's specific finding that Martin's clothes were not obvious prison garb. This finding of fact is subject to the clearly erroneous standard. See Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 572, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 1511, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985). This standard plainly does not entitle the reviewing court to reverse the finding of the trier of facts simply because it is convinced that it would have decided the case differently. Id. at 573, 105 S.Ct. at 1511. Thus, we will not upset the district court's finding of fact that Martin's clothes were not obvious prison garb. 34 Martin's presence before the jurors in a plain/unmarked jumpsuit was by no means as potentially prejudicial as prisoners being shackled or bound, and we note these practices have been allowed by the Supreme Court: 35 Notwithstanding the importance of [the general rule against the use of physical restraints in the courtroom] to insuring a fair trial, a defendant's right to appear and to have his witnesses appear without restraints is not absolute. In Illinois v. Allen, 397 U.S. [337,] 344, 90 S.Ct. [1057,] 1061 [25 L.Ed.2d 353] [ (1970) ], the Supreme Court stated that binding ... a defendant is permissible when necessary to control contumacious conduct at trial. 36 Harrell v. Israel, 672 F.2d 632, 635 (7th Cir.1982) (citations omitted). Like the defendant in the case before us, the petitioner in Harrell did not object in a timely fashion to the complained of procedure: 37 It is also significant that petitioner raised no objection to the trial judge's shackling order when it was first issued. In an analogous context, a defendant's failure to object to being tried in prison garb was found by the Supreme Court to negate his claim that he was compelled to stand trial in such attire against his will. Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 96 S.Ct. 1691 [48 L.Ed.2d 126] (1976). The Court reasoned in Estelle that because a defendant may elect to wear prison clothing in an attempt to elicit sympathy from the jury, a due process claim based on that fact could not be sustained on appeal in the absence of a showing that the defendant had been forced to appear in prison clothing over his specific objection. Although we do not rely solely upon the rationale of Estelle for our conclusion here, we find the fact that petitioner did not object supportive of our conclusion that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion. 38 Id. at 637 (emphasis added). As a result of Martin's failure to make a timely objection, the district court did not err in refusing to allow him to change into civilian clothes part way through the trial where the defendant had failed to make a proper, timely objection. 39 We refuse to hold that the wearing of an unmarked government-issued jumpsuit could rise to the level of a constitutional error. But even if we were to find that the district court erred in refusing to grant the defendant's untimely request for civilian clothing and thus prejudiced his rights, this error would be harmless given the overwhelming evidence of the defendant's guilt in the cocaine conspiracy. The Supreme Court recently stated: 40 Since this Court's landmark decision in Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967), in which we adopted the general rule that a constitutional error does not automatically require reversal of a conviction, the Court has applied harmless error analysis to a wide range of errors and has recognized that most constitutional errors can be harmless.... In applying harmless-error analysis ... the Court has been faithful to the belief that the harmless-error doctrine is essential to preserve the 'principle that the central purpose of a criminal trial is to decide the factual question of the defendant's guilt or innocence, and promotes public respect for the criminal process by focussing on the underlying fairness of the trial rather than on the virtually inevitable presence of immaterial error. 41 Arizona v. Fulminante, --- U.S. ----, ---- - ----, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 1263-64, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991) (citations omitted) (emphasis added). This circuit has recently addressed the harmless error doctrine of Chapman: 42 We recognize that 'there can be no such thing as an error free, perfect trial, and that the Constitution does not guarantee such a trial.... Since Chapman, the Court has consistently made clear that it is the duty of a reviewing court to consider the trial record as a whole and to ignore errors that are harmless, including most constitutional violations.' United States v. Hasting, 461 U.S. 499, 508-09, 103 S.Ct. 1974, 1980, 76 L.Ed.2d 96 (1983) (emphasis added) (citations omitted). While [the petitioner's] trial was not perfect, and we might add, very few are, any error was harmless in view of the overpowering evidence of his guilt. 43 Hunter v. Clark, 934 F.2d 856, 860 (7th Cir.1991). 44 The overwhelming evidence of Martin's guilt in this cocaine conspiracy and the applicable case law mandate that we hold that any error that occurred as a result of the district court's failure to grant the defendant's untimely request for civilian clothing is harmless. Undercover DEA agent, Frank Guerra, testified at trial regarding a meeting with Lopez and the defendant Martin that occurred on May 8, 1990, in which the three discussed arrangements for the delivery of two kilograms of cocaine. The tape recording of Agent Guerra's discussion with the defendant Martin and Lopez was admitted in evidence and demonstrated that Martin negotiated for the delivery of two kilograms of cocaine: 45 MARTIN: I am going to set aside one for you. He's going to set aside one for you ... but it has to be for sure because this man ... who's coming over here[,] he wanted all five ... but I am going to set aside yours ... I am going to give him three and a half ... and one and a half.... 46 GUERRA: Okay.... 47 MARTIN: You can count on this. I'm not going to leave you hanging. 48 In addition, Martin also provided Agent Guerra with his beeper number and arranged a time to meet Agent Guerra the following day in order to complete the transaction: 49 GUERRA: I ... I'll call you when I already have the money. 50 MARTIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) telephone (VOICES OVERLAP) ... no. 51 GUERRA: On my hand. 52 MARTIN: 420-87 you call me. 53 GUERRA: Yours? Yours I have it ... yes ... 420-87.... 54 MARTIN: Tomorrow you call me. What (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you put down for me? I don't remember anymore. 55 GUERRA: Zero ... a double zero. 56