Opinion ID: 2631206
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the district court's decision to allow the police officers to wear their firearms while testifying is questionable, but within the discretion of the district court.

Text: Counsel for Page objected to the police officers wearing firearms during their testimony at trial. The objection was broadly based, including the influence the display of authority might have on the jury and the particular impact of Officer Rogers wearing a weapon in the presence of the Atkinson family whose son was killed by Officer Rogers. The district judge commented that the concerns are absurd, basing that remark on the belief that people are accustomed to seeing officers in uniform with guns. The district court's decision raises serious questions. [1] The concern expressed by Page's attorney for the feelings of the Atkinson family goes to a question of decency, not the fairness of the trial itself. Some might believe that sympathy for the family would lead to a different decision, but the emotional distress of Atkinson's family does not implicate denial of a fair trial to Page. There are, however, concerns as to the district court's decision that relate to the fairness of the trial. Arguably, allowing the officers to appear with firearms is a form of vouching for their credibility. One could conclude that they alone are trustworthy enough to have weapons in the courtroom  the jurors themselves and all other witnesses will have gone through screening in the Ada County Courthouse to assure that they do not have weapons. In the case of Officer Rogers it may be a signal that he is in good standing and no disciplinary action was taken. Whether disciplinary action was taken against a police officer is likely to affect any credibility assessment undertaken by the jurors. Some may see the permission to wear a firearm on the witness stand as the court itself recognizing the officers as being more worthy of trust than other witnesses. In this case credibility was fundamental. The characterization of the defense's objection as absurd missed the point of defense concerns. However, the district court gave a final explanation: I don't think it's a different situation. If I thought it was going to affect the jury's verdict one way or the other, I would tell them to get out of uniform, but I don't think it will. And in part certainly some of the officers are entitled to come in uniform because one of the issues is did the defendant know they were police officers. So they certainly should be able to come in uniform like the ones they were wearing to show what he would have seen because  as to know whether or not they were police officers. The district court correctly perceived the issue as one of discretion and acted within the outer bounds of such discretion, consistent with legal standards applicable to the choices. The district court reached its decision by an exercise of reason. This Court cannot say there was an abuse of discretion in the decision to allow officers to appear in the court with their firearms, since this represented to the jury the appearance of the police participants on the night of the events of concern.