Opinion ID: 2446612
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Substantial Reason Test

Text: The first question posed in Longus's petition for certiorari asks us to determine whether the intermediate appellate court erred in applying a modified version of the first prong of the Waller test. The trial judge, in excluding Myers and Norris, applied neither the overriding interest test announced in Waller nor the substantial reason test employed by the Court of Special Appeals. Rather, the trial judge determined that the State advanced, what the judge described as, extraordinary cause to grant the request for a partial closure of the courtroom. The Court of Special Appeals, instead of applying the overriding interest analysis announced in Waller, adopted the less stringent substantial reason test for partial courtroom closures. Longus argues that the intermediate appellate court erred in applying a substantial reason standard to a partial closure in place of the overriding interest standard announced by the United States Supreme Court. In Longus's view, the exclusion of one spectator, under some circumstances, is as objectionable as the exclusion of all spectators, particularly if the individuals excluded are the defendant's family members or friends. Longus points out that the Waller standard, requiring that the State show an overriding interest in closure, makes adequate allowance for factors that justify limiting the right of access to trial. To be certain, the United States Supreme Court could have announced a lower standard, such as requiring a substantial reason or important reason, but the Court did not do so. The State responds, arguing that the substantial reason test adequately protects the rights of defendants because partial closures do not implicate the same secrecy concerns as total closures. The State directs us to the fact that the intermediate appellate court's decision is not without precedent. Rather, as noted by the State, the Court of Special Appeals adopted the same reasoning as several of the United States Courts of Appeals and appellate courts of other states in applying the substantial reason standard when reviewing partial closures. See, e.g., United States v. Osborne, 68 F.3d 94, 98-99 (5th Cir.1995); United States v. Farmer, 32 F.3d 369, 371 (8th Cir.1994); Woods v. Kuhlmann, 977 F.2d 74, 76-77 (2d Cir.1992); United States v. Sherlock, 962 F.2d 1349, 1356-57 (9th Cir.1992); Nieto v. Sullivan, 879 F.2d 743, 753 (10th Cir.1989); Douglas v. Wainwright, 739 F.2d 531, 532-33 (11th Cir. 1984) (per curiam); Ex parte Easterwood, 980 So.2d 367, 376 (Ala.2007); State v. Drummond, 111 Ohio St.3d 14, 854 N.E.2d 1038, 1054 (2006); Feazell v. State, 111 Nev. 1446, 906 P.2d 727, 729 (1995). For example, in Woods, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit applied the less stringent `substantial reason' test to determine whether a defendant's right to a public trial was violated by a partial closure of the proceedings. 977 F.2d at 76. In adopting the substantial reason standard, the court noted that partial closures, particularly when limited in both scope and duration, do not implicate the same fairness or secrecy concerns as total closures. Id. Other courts have adopted similar reasoning, noting that in a partial closure, an audience still remains to ensure the fundamental fairness of the proceedings. Osborne, 68 F.3d at 99. We disagree with the reasoning of those courts. In our view, although a partial closure may not implicate the same secrecy issues for the public as a total closure, a partial closure does implicate the same fairness issues. We are not the only court to have rejected an analysis which requires application of a different standard depending on whether the courtroom closure was total or partial. In People v. Jones, 96 N.Y.2d 213, 726 N.Y.S.2d 608, 750 N.E.2d 524 (2001), the New York Court of Appeals affirmed the use of a screening procedure implemented to restrict the access of those who entered the courtroom during the testimony of an undercover police officer. The court determined that posting a court officer outside the courtroom to exclude potential spectators who might pose a threat to the testifying undercover officer was a limited or partial closure and implicated the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a public trial. Jones, 726 N.Y.S.2d 608, 750 N.E.2d at 528-529. Recognizing that [t]he risk of prejudice to a compelling interest such as safety of an undercover officer depends upon the facts of each case, the appellate court held that the People met their burden[,] and presented evidence that satisfied all four Waller prongs. Jones, 726 N.Y.S.2d 608, 750 N.E.2d at 529-30. Thus, the restriction on the public's access to the courtroom did not violate the defendant's right to a public trial. Id. In concluding that the overriding interest standard applies when a court is asked to order a partial closure, the appellate court acknowledged that some courts have recognized that a less demanding standard can be applied to limited closure requests. Jones, 726 N.Y.S.2d 608, 750 N.E.2d at 529. The court, however, disagreed that a substantial reason rather than Waller's requirement of an overriding interest justified the closure. Id. The court explained: We believe that there is no need to adopt such an articulation of the Waller standard since Waller already contemplates a balancing of competing interests in closure decisions. When the procedure requested impacts on a defendant's right to a public trial, nothing less than an overriding interest can satisfy constitutional scrutiny.       The proponent of closure must still establish that there is a `substantial probability' that the overriding interest asserted will be prejudiced as a result of an open proceeding. Trial courts are called upon to ensure that the closure is no broader than necessary and to consider alternatives to closure suggested by the parties. The breath of the closure request therefore will always be measured against the risk of prejudice to the asserted overriding interest. Id. (citations and quotations omitted). Other courts have also extended the Waller analysis to partial courtroom closures. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Cohen, 456 Mass. 94, 921 N.E.2d 906, 921 (2010); State v. Mahkuk, 736 N.W.2d 675, 684-685 (Minn.2007); State v. Ortiz, 91 Hawai`i 181, 981 P.2d 1127, 1137 (1999). Recently, in concluding that the right to a public trial applies to the jury selection process (the voir dire of prospective jurors), the United States Supreme Court in Presley v. Georgia, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 721, 175 L.Ed.2d 675 (2010) recognized that [t]here are no doubt circumstances where a judge could conclude that threats of improper communications with jurors or safety concerns are concrete enough to warrant closing voir dire. But, in those cases the particular interest, and threat to that interest, must be articulated along with findings specific enough that a reviewing court can determine whether the closure order was properly entered. ___ U.S. at ___, 130 S.Ct. at 725, 175 L.Ed.2d at 679. Presley involved a total closure of the courtroom because the defendant's uncle was the only spectator in the courtroom at the time the court ordered him to be removed. The trial judge's rationale for excluding spectators from the courtroom, the ruling on which was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Georgia, was that intermingling between prospective jurors and spectators could result in the prospective jurors overhearing inherently prejudicial remarks from observers during voir dire[.] Presley, 130 S.Ct. at 723. The United States Supreme Court reversed, holding that the trial court failed to consider alternatives to closure and failed to identify any overriding interest likely to be prejudiced absent the closure of voir dire. Presley, 130 S.Ct. at 725. In other words, the trial judge abused his discretion in closing the courtroom to the defendant's uncle under circumstances where no particular interest or threat to that interest was articulated and no case-specific factual findings were made to allow the reviewing court an opportunity to determine whether the closure order was properly entered. Id. It is apparent, in view of the Supreme Court's analysis, that the question of whether the closure was total or partial was immaterial. See Commonwealth v. Cohen, 921 N.E.2d at 922 (acknowledging that the [United States] Supreme Court's concern about the intermingling rationale appears to apply in the partial closure context as well....). In the present case, as in many cases, see, e.g., Woods, 977 F.2d at 76-77, Walker, 125 Md.App. at 71, 723 A.2d at 933-34, the partial closure excluded members of the defendant's family and friends. As the District of Columbia Court of Appeals noted in Tinsley, 868 A.2d at 873, the defendant's family and friends are the people who have the strongest interest or concern in the handling of the defendant's trial and their attendance perhaps best serves the purpose of the Sixth Amendment guarantee. In fact, in some cases, members of the defendant's family or friends may be the only spectators, which would make a partial closure under those circumstances a de facto total closure. Because the defendant's interest in an open trial is implicated in a partial closure as well as a total closure and Maryland courts strongly favor a presumption of openness with regard to all trials, we will not, and clearly should not, modify or lessen the United States Supreme Court's standard for evaluating closures. See Tharp v. State, 362 Md. 77, 120-21, 763 A.2d 151, 174 (2000). The overriding interest test is the substantive core of the Waller standard. The other three prongs of the Waller test address procedural issuesthe scope of closure, additional factors the trial judge must consider, and the findings the trial judge must make to support the closure. Although Waller addressed a total closure of a suppression hearing to the public, the defendant's interest in openness is nonetheless implicated in both a partial and a total closure. For this reason, we shall continue to apply the United States Supreme Court's substantive standard, as articulated in Waller, to partial closures as well as total closures. Thus, we decline to apply the less stringent substantial reason standard when evaluating partial courtroom closures. We therefore hold that the standard announced by the United States Supreme Court in Waller, requiring that the party requesting closure demonstrate an overriding interest that will likely be prejudiced if the hearing is not closed, applies to both total and partial courtroom closures. Further, we adopt the reasoning of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, in Tinsley, that we are not persuaded that the distinction between a `substantial reason' and an `overriding interest' is a particularly meaningful one because `a word like `overriding' is really not a calibrated measure of the gravity of an interest; [rather,] it reflects a conclusion that a particular interest ... is sufficient to justify the degree of closure sought.' Tinsley, 868 A.2d at 874 (quoting Ayala v. Speckard, 131 F.3d 62, 70 (2d Cir.1997) (en banc)). Accordingly, the sensible course is for the trial judge to recognize that open trials are strongly favored, to require persuasive evidence of serious risk to an important interest in ordering any closure, and to realize that the more extensive the closure requested, the greater must be the gravity of the required interest. Id. In other words, overriding is a relative term, and whether the advanced interest is overriding depends on the extent to which the defendant's right to an open trial is burdened. [9] In our view, the problem with adopting a substantial reason test is that any less stringent or relaxed standard fails to adequately protect the defendant's interest in an open trial. The Waller test, in requiring an overriding interest, demands by definition that the State's interest in closure outweigh the burden on the defendant's right to a public trial. By contrast, an interest may be substantial but also less important than the burden on the defendant's right to an open trial. By maintaining the Waller standard of overriding interest, we ensure that the interest advanced in favor of closure will outweigh the defendant's right to openness in every closure, whether full, temporary, or partial. Further, by applying the Waller standard to partial courtroom closures, we guarantee that courtroom closures comport with the requirements of the Sixth Amendment, as announced by the United States Supreme Court in Waller, and ensure that Maryland courts comply with the constitutionally mandated standard.