Court Opinion

ID: 9719836
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 08:06:25.937618+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:10.531521
License: Public Domain

FROEHLICH, J.*
I respectfully dissent.
The teaching of Estelle v. Williams (1976) 425 U.S. 501 [48 L.Ed.2d 126, 96 S.Ct. 1691], reflected in People v. Hernandez (1979) 100 Cal.App.3d 637 [160 Cal.Rptr. 607], and People v. Williams (1979) 93 Cal.App.3d 40 [155 Cal.Rptr. 414], is that it is inconsistent with the Fourteenth Amendment to compel an accused to stand trial in jail clothing. A violation of this proscription, however, is not automatically reversible error. The rule is grounded upon the presumption the finder of fact will be influenced adversely by viewing the defendant throughout the trial in garb which constantly suggests his need for incarceration. Where the particular circumstances of the case indicate such prejudice did not result from use of the jail clothing, no error, or at best only harmless error, is found.
For instance, where the alleged crime being tried occurred in prison, the jury will necessarily be advised of the confined status of the defendant, and the sight of him in jail clothing is not deemed prejudicial. (Estelle v. Williams, supra, 425 U.S. 501, 507 [48 L.Ed.2d 126, 132].) Admonishment by the trial judge or voir dire by defense counsel on the subject of possible prejudice resulting from prison clothes may remove or insure against any such prejudice. (People v. Hernandez, supra, 100 Cal.App.3d 637, 646; People v. Chacon (1968) 69 Cal.2d 765, 778 [73 Cal.Rptr. 10, 447 P.2d 106].) Where the trial is before a judge sitting without a jury who declares the prison clothing will have no effect on his decision, the presumed prejudice disappears. (People v. Zapata (1963) 220 Cal.App.2d 903, 911 [34 Cal.Rptr. 171].)
Further, it is well established that the right to civilian clothing during trial may be waived by failure to make timely objection. (Estelle v. Williams, supra, at pp. 512-513 [48 L.Ed.2d at pp. 135, 136]; People v. Hernandez, supra, at p. 646.) Very good reasons exist for requiring counsel affirmatively to object to the clothing his client wears before its use may be deemed error. As stated by Chief Justice Burger in Estelle (at pp. 512-513): “Under our adversary system, once a defendant has *857the assistance of counsel the vast array of trial decisions, strategic and tactical, which must be made before and during trial rests with the accused and his attorney. Any other approach would rewrite the duties of trial judges and counsel in our legal system.
“Accordingly, although the State cannot, consistently with the Fourteenth Amendment, compel an accused to stand trial before a jury while dressed in identifiable prison clothes, the failure to make an objection to the court as to being tried in such clothes, for whatever reason, is sufficient to negate the presence of compulsion necessary to establish a constitutional violation.”
While prison clothing in one setting may be substantially prejudicial to a defendant, in other situations the effect of the prison clothing may be minor or nil—and other considerations may weigh more heavily on trial counsel. In some situations it may even be deemed advantageous to go to trial in jail clothes. (See Estelle v. Williams, supra, at p. 508 [48 L.Ed.2d at p. 133].) There is very good cause, therefore, for requiring defense counsel to make a clear and affirmative objection to proceeding without a change of clothing. His failure to make such objection is most reasonably presumed, in the absence of evidence or circumstances suggesting the contrary, to be an acknowledgement the jail clothing issue is unimportant.
This case would seem to be a good example of such reasoning. First, we have practically no evidence of the actual clothing worn by the defendant. His lawyer remarked before commencement of the trial, “He has a stencil across the back of his shirt.” We are not advised by the record as to whether he continued to wear this shirt throughout the proceedings. The only other reference to his clothing is contained in the testimony of an identifying witness who testified he was wearing a “blue shirt and Levis.” Contrary to the inference made by the majority, this description would seem to fit civilian attire as well as county-issue clothing. While some have speculated that a defendant on bail might appear as a “veritable satyr clad. like Hyperion himself” (People v. Zapata, supra, 220 Cal.App.2d 903, 911), it requires no scientific survey to demonstrate those participating as defendants in criminal cases in today’s courtrooms are often seen in the most casual of attire. In sum, we really do not know what the defendant wore throughout the trial, and we have no way of knowing just how prejudicial it was, if at all.
*858Further, from the skimpy record before us, we can infer at minimum that providing the defendant with civilian clothing would have been a problem administratively. The defendant’s own clothing was not usable and nothing discloses the difficulties or delays which might have been encountered in acquiring suitable dress for him—whether by the efforts of defense counsel, the judge, or perhaps the offices of some charitable organization. We do know the principal concern of the defendant when the case was called was his lack of confidence in his counsel. The colloquy between the defendant and the judge on this subject embraces 6 pages of the trial transcript, or some 160 lines. The defendant ultimately relents and accepts his assigned counsel because “I can’t waive time, because I am ready . .. . ” The subsequent reference to clothing (as quoted in the majority opinion) occupies a mere 12 lines of transcript. It clearly was not a matter of much concern to anyone, and it is a fair inference the defendant would not have wanted his trial delayed in order to search for suitable civilian clothing.
The majority finds an “objection” of counsel in this brief reference to jail clothing—and thereupon identifies error in the trial judge’s administration of the case warranting reversal. I cannot subscribe to this conclusion. Everything in the record of the case indicates the defendant received a full and fair trial. While he had some question about his counsel’s ability at the commencement of the trial, no contention of error or incompetence of any kind is proffered after the trial. Of the innumerable factors potentially influencing finders of fact at a trial, the defendant’s clothing is only one. Conceivably, it can be a factor of substantial weight—it also may be immaterial. Those participating in the trial itself are in the best position—to diagnose the setting of the case and to weigh the importance of the ingredients of the scene. If clothing is a weighty factor, it is incumbent upon counsel to raise the issue. A failure to object to the defendant’s clothing is most reasonably interpreted as a stipulation that it is not an important factor.
We are all aware of the tremendous and increasing difficulties encountered by trial court judges in achieving just and efficient management of criminal calendars. Every increase in procedural minutia imposed upon the trial court judge results in a lengthening of the particular hearing and trial, cumulating in delays and backlogs. The resulting court congestion is then itself a source of potential injustice to the accused awaiting trial. We do the system no benefit when we encrust it with automatic inquiries and sua sponte actions required of criminal trial court judges. The majority opinion elevates a mere inquiry about *859clothing to the status of a formal trial objection. I have no doubt this will come as a surprise to many criminal court judges who believed the defendant’s attire was a matter primarily for defense counsel’s concern. This opinion foists upon the trial judge yet one more area of inquiry requiring him to interpose his own notions of trial tactics upon the defendant and his counsel.
I must respectfully dissent from the trend, and specifically from the application of that trend in this case.
Respondent’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied January 13, 1982.

 Assigned by the Chairperson of the Judicial Council.