Court Opinion

ID: 9675512
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:55:56.175341+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:12:55.660538
License: Public Domain

OTIS, Justice
(dissenting).
Granted there was medical evidence that this defendant was dangerous and homicidal, the same may be said for the majority of habitual offenders charged with acts of violence. Yet shackling is virtually unheard of where the defendant has committed no overt disruptive act in open court. I cannot subscribe to a rule which permits shackling on such speculative premises as were here assigned. It is inconceivable to me that one unarmed defendant, guarded continuously by one or more deputy sheriffs, poses a serious threat to a courtroom crowded with jurors, court personnel, witnesses, lawyers, and spectators. The effect on the jurors of having the defendant’s arms and legs shackled in their presence throughout the trial is tantamount to a judicial declaration that he is a dangerous person who, for the safety of the public, should be confined. It is difficult to imagine greater prejudice to one presumed to be innocent.