Court Opinion

ID: 9489962
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:29:15.037055+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:53:49.531227
License: Public Domain

JON O. NEWMAN, Chief Judge:
In Ayala v. Speckard, 89 F.3d 91 (2d Cir.), modified on denial of rehearing, 102 F.3d 649 (2d Cir.1996), this Court ruled that a defendant’s constitutional right to a public trial is violated when a trial judge closes a courtroom for a valid reason but fails to consider, on his own motion, alternatives to closure that would adequately protect the state interest justifying the closure. That ruling governs this appeal by Howard Pearson from the October 26, 1995, judgment of the District Court for the Southern District of New York (Peter Leisure, District Judge) denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus to challenge his state court conviction for selling cocaine to an undercover police officer. The state court trial judge closed the courtroom during the testimony of the officer but did not consider any alternatives to courtroom closure. Ayala requires us to reverse.
Facts
Pearson was arrested after an undercover police officer, conducting a routine “buy and bust” operation, purchased $10 worth of cocaine from him near the comer of 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan. The transaction was one of 200 effected by the officer in the preceding 15 months.
At trial in 1990, the prosecutor moved to have the courtroom closed during the officer’s testimony, asserting that her safety and her work as an undercover would be compromised if she testified in open court. With the defendant’s agreement, the courtroom was closed for a hearing to determine closure during the officer’s trial testimony. In support of the closure request, the officer testified that she was continuing her undercover work in the neighborhood of her purchase from Pearson, that she feared public exposure, and that if her identity was revealed, “my cover could be blown and I could get killed.” She also said this was her first time testifying as an undercover officer.
The trial judge acknowledged that there was no concern about jeopardizing “any ongoing investigation ... with respect to a *830particular target or with a particular conspiracy.” However, he continued,
that doesn’t undermine the fact that she is now actively engaged in that geographical area and she will continue to be. It doesn’t undermine the fact that from her past 30 days and even before that involvement in that area, she has reason to fear retaliation from people who might put two and two together realizing that she has been the person engaging in the undercover purchase of narcotics from those people who do business in that location.
I am persuaded that the courtroom should be closed.
State court trial tr. at 35. Defense counsel did not suggest any alternatives to closure, and the trial judge did not consider any on his own motion. The courtroom was closed during the officer’s testimony, which was the core of the prosecution’s case.
Pearson was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to two concurrent terms of five to ten years. His conviction was affirmed on direct review. People v. Martinez, 191 A.D.2d 151, 594 N.Y.S.2d 29 (1st Dep’t 1998), aff'd, People v. Martinez, 82 N.Y.2d 436, 604 N.Y.S.2d 932, 624 N.E.2d 1027 (1993).
Magistrate Judge Grubin recommended denial of Pearson’s habeas corpus petition. She concluded that the closure was permissible under Waller v. Georgia, 467 U.S. 39, 47, 104 S.Ct. 2210, 2215-16, 81 L.Ed.2d 31 (1984), because (1) the prosecution had established an overriding interest — the officer’s safety and concealment of her identity, (2) the closure lasted only during the officer’s testimony, (3) no alternatives were suggested to the trial judge by defendant’s counsel, and (4) the judge’s findings were adequate to support the closure. In concluding that the trial judge was not obliged to consider alternatives On his own motion, the Magistrate Judge explicitly relied on Ayala v. Speckard, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8558, 1995 WL 373419 (S.D.N.Y. June 21, 1996), a District Court decision subsequently reversed by this Court, 89 F.3d 91. Judge Leisure accepted the recommendation and denied the habeas petition, also relying on the District Court’s decision in Ayala to reject defendant’s contention that the trial judge was required to consider alternatives on his own motion.
Discussion
We agree with the District Court that three of the four factors outlined in Waller as requirements for courtroom closure were met in this case. First, the prosecution adequately supported an overriding interest in protecting the undercover officer from exposure of her identity. Her testimony that her undercover activity was continuing in the same neighborhood where she purchased cocaine from the defendant sufficed to indicate the State’s strong interest in concealing her identity. We need not determine whether her fear of retaliation would have sufficed, though we note that this interest could be asserted by any officer presenting significant evidence against a criminal defendant. Second, we agree that the closure was no more extensive than required to protect the interest asserted. Finally, the State Court Judge’s findings adequately supported his ruling.
However, Waller requires that “the trial court must consider reasonable alternatives to closing the proceeding.” 467 U.S. at 48, 104 S.Ct. at 2216. Our decision in Ayala rejected the District Court’s view that a trial judge does not have an obligation to consider, sua sponte, alternatives to closure. 89 F.3d at 96-97. That view became the holding of the Court upon consideration of the State’s petition for rehearing. See Ayala v. Speckard, 102 F.3d 649, 651 (2d Cir.1996). In the pending case, the state court trial judge did not consider alternatives. Some alternatives, such as placing a screen between the undercover officer and the spectators, leaving the jury’s view unobstructed, or perhaps disguising her appearance appear to have been worth considering. Of course, these alternatives, and perhaps others, might themselves be disadvantageous to a defendant. Screening might imply to the jury that the defendant has dangerous friends among the spectators, and a disguise might impair the jury’s ability to assess the credibility of the undercover officer. Clearly, alternatives creating such risks should not be imposed on a defen*831dant who objects to them. Ayala requires only consideration of alternatives to closure.
Under the authority, of Ayala, we conclude that the courtroom closure, without consideration of alternatives, denied the appellant his constitutional right to a public trial. See Okonkwo v. Lacy, 104 F.3d 21 (2d Cir.1997). Accordingly, the judgment of the District Court is reversed, and the case remanded with directions to issue the writ, unless the State retries the defendant within a reasonable time.