Court Opinion

ID: 9752160
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 17:40:06.266626+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:08.630200
License: Public Domain

Billings, J.
(Dissenting). I join in most of the majority opinion, but I am unable to agree with the Court’s conclusion that the denial of the right to confer with counsel during a recess, due to the lack of showing of prejudice, does not require reversal. I would reverse and remand for a new trial.
As the majority concluded, the principle enunciated in Geders v. United States, 425 U.S. 80, 96 S.Ct. 1330, 47 L.Ed.2d 592 (1976) may apply under procedural due process in civil cases and any order barring communication between a party and his attorney when it does not interfere with the orderly progress of the trial is not only an arbitrary abuse of discretion but infringes on basic constitutional rights. It follows that in such a posture prejudice automatically exists without further action or showing on the part of the aggrieved.
Although the record here is somewhat sketchy because of inadequate recording procedures, all counsel on oral argument conceded that the presiding judge prevented plaintiff’s counsel from communicating with his client during a recess without cause or justification, and this is error.