Court Opinion

ID: 9884585
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 03:02:38.043562+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:39.660862
License: Public Domain

MEYER, Justice
(concurring).
Although I concur with the decision of the majority that the district court’s erroneous jury instruction requires the reversal of Mahkuk’s convictions and a remand for a new trial, I write separately to address the standard that the district court should apply when there is a partial closure of a criminal trial.
The right to a public trial exists to ensure that the “judge and prosecutor carry out their duties responsibly,” to encourage “witnessfes] to come forward,” and to discourage perjury. Waller v. Georgia, 467 U.S. 39, 46, 104 S.Ct. 2210, 81 L.Ed.2d 31 (1984). The Supreme Court has recognized that while the right to a public trial is an important constitutional right, there are some instances when that right gives way to the need to close the trial to the public. Id. at 48, 104 S.Ct. 2210. Under the rule articulated by the Supreme Court, a trial may be closed when: (1) “the party seeking to close the hearing ⅝ ⅜ * advanced] an overriding interest that is likely to be prejudiced”; (2) the closure is no broader than necessary to protect that interest; (3) the court has considered reasonable alternatives to closing the hearing; and (4) the court “make[s] findings adequate to support the closure.” Id.
Waller addressed a complete closure of a trial — one in which the public was excluded entirely. Id. at 42, 104 S.Ct. 2210. In contrast, a partial closure is one that “ ‘results in the exclusion of certain members of the public while other members of the public are permitted to remain in the courtroom.’ ” State v. Garcia, 561 N.W.2d 599, 605 (N.D.1997) (quoting State v. Sams, 802 S.W.2d 635, 639-40 (Tenn.Ct.Crim.App.1990)). Where there is only a partial closure of the trial, many courts have adopted a “substantial reason” standard to determine whether the Sixth Amendment rights of the defendant have been violated. See, e.g., Garcia v. Bertsch, 470 F.3d 748, 752-53 (8th Cir.2006) (noting that the Second, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits all apply the “substantial reason” test to partial closures). Under the “substantial reason” test, the state must establish a “substantial reason” why it is likely to be prejudiced if the trial is not closed instead of showing that it has an “overriding interest” in closing the hearing. After the state establishes that it has a “substantial reason” for the closure, there must still be a showing that: (1) the closure is no broader than necessary to protect that interest; (2) the court has considered reasonable alternatives to closing the hearing; and (3) the court has made findings adequate to support the closure. See Woods v. Kuhlmann, 977 F.2d 74, 76-77 (2d Cir.1992); United States v. Sherlock, 962 F.2d 1349, 1358-59 (9th Cir.1992).
This partial closure rule has been adopted because the defendant’s right to a public trial is less likely to be violated during a partial closure because “a partial closure does not ‘implicate the same secre*691cy and fairness concerns that a total closure does.’ ” United States v. Farmer, 32 F.3d 369, 371 (8th Cir.1994) (quoting Woods, 977 F.2d at 76). A public trial is important because the courts depend upon “ ‘the presence of interested spectators [to] keep [the defendant’s] triers keenly alive to a sense of their responsibility and to the importance of their functions.’ ” Waller, 467 U.S. at 46, 104 S.Ct. 2210 (quoting Gannett Co., Inc. v. DePasquale, 443 U.S. 368, 380, 99 S.Ct. 2898, 61 L.Ed.2d 608 (1979)). A partial closure, where only certain members of the public are excluded from a trial, still allows for: interested spectators to observe the judicial system, the improvement of quality of testimony, the inducing of unknown witnesses to come forward with relevant testimony, insuring that the trial judge and prosecutor perform their duties responsibly, and discouraging perjury.
The majority suggests that State v. Fageroos, 531 N.W.2d 199 (Minn.1995), mandates that we apply the standard articulated in Waller to both complete and partial closures of trials. I do not believe that Fageroos has conclusively addressed the issue.
Although Fageroos applied the Waller standard to a partially closed trial, the focus of Fageroos was on whether the trial court’s findings were sufficient to support the need for closure. 531 N.W.2d at 202. The Fageroos court did not specifically address the question of whether different standards should apply when there is a partial closure of the trial rather than a complete closure. Because this issue was not addressed in Fageroos, the question of what standard should be applied to partial closures of trials has not been decided by this court, and I would adopt the substantial reason test instead of the Waller overriding interest standard.
I concur in the decision of the majority because even under the “substantial reason” standard, I would conclude that the standard for closing the courtroom in this case has not been met. There is no testimony or evidence from any witness indicating that he or she has been intimidated or'threatened. Nor is there evidence indicating who was intimidating or threatening witnesses or the nature of those threats. In fact, other than her demeanor while testifying, there is no testimony from White indicating that she felt intimidated or threatened. Instead, the record simply contains statements from the prosecution indicating that White felt intimidated. That is not evidence. Without specific findings about who was being intimidated and the nature of the intimidation, it is impossible to determine whether partial closure was proper. Therefore, I agree with the majority that we cannot conclude that the closure decision by the trial court was proper, absent evidence in the record and adequate findings by the trial court.