Court Opinion

ID: 9668086
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:01:59.040877+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:42.910796
License: Public Domain

WINTERSHEIMER, Justice,
dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent from the majority opinion because the public and the press have a right to be present during the voir dire examination of a jury in a criminal trial. It must be understood that this right is not absolute but is conditioned by their good behavior and the overriding concern that the right of the accused to a fair trial will be scrupulously protected. See Ashland Publishing Co. v. Asbury, Ky., 612 S.W.2d 749 (1980).
The voir dire examination in a criminal trial is an integral part of the proceeding to which the public has a right of access under the first amendment. Although it is actually before the evidentiary part of the trial, the jury examination is generally considered to be part of the trial itself. United States v. Brooklier, 685 F.2d 1162 (9th Cir., 1982).
The public’s right to know about criminal prosecutions has long been recognized. Johnson v. Simpson, Ky, 433 S.W.2d 644 (1968); Lexington Herald-Leader Co., Inc. v. Tackett, Ky, 601 S.W.2d 905 (1980).
Public trials are highly favored. Courtroom doors may be closed to the general public only on rare occasion after determination that there is no other way that justice can be properly served. Courtrooms are kept open not so that the public may be exposed to wrongdoing and the commercial exploitation of curiosity, but rather they are open to allow all the citizens to see for themselves how the laws are applied. Trial judges should not close the courtrooms to the press when any members of the public are to be admitted. Tackett, supra.
It is a crucial part of the democratic system that the public and the press should know what goes on in their courts. Consequently, the voir dire examination as part of a criminal proceeding must be open.
It has always been the principal concern of the Kentucky courts to protect the constitutional rights of the accused. Exclusion of the press and public is proper only where there is a factual showing and the trial judge reasonably believes that the dissemination of information would irreparably damage the rights of the accused.
In this case, there is no evidence that the closing of the jury examination proceedings would be effective in encouraging the prospective jurors to respond truthfully. The trial judge should have made a detailed factual showing of the probable harm to the accused’s fair-trial rights. General statements by the trial judge as to the necessity *668of balancing the First and Sixth Amendment rights are not sufficient unless they are clearly supported by the record.
The public policy considerations previously expressed by this Court in Tackett, supra, and Johnson, supra, apply to a criminal trial in the voir dire examination of the jury. The public is a party to all criminal proceedings, including that part of the action in which a jury is selected. Jury examination must be kept open to allow the citizens at large an opportunity to see if the jury was impartially selected. The right of the public and the press to be present in open court at all times has been well settled, not only in this Commonwealth, but in the nation as a whole.
It must be clearly understood that with each right comes a corresponding responsibility. It is the responsibility of the public and the press to behave in a proper manner when exercising this valuable right. It is the difficult duty of the trial judge to enforce the delicate balance which must be maintained between a fair trial and a free press.
STEPHENS, C.J., joins in this dissent.