US v. Ellis: Ellis was part of a drug trafficking operation in North Carolina which included the alleged murder of an informant. Ellis was charged federal with drug and other offenses, with the murder being prosecuted in state court. On the first day of his trial, another cooperating witness, Russell, testified against Ellis. That night, a US Marshal reported to the district court that people seated in the gallery during Russell’s testimony appeared to be attempting to intimidate him (they “clicked their teeth excessively in ways that could be perceived as disagreement with the testimony being elicited”). The next morning, the Government and Russell’s counsel explained that they thought something was wrong with Russell during his testimony. Ultimately, and after an objection from Ellis, the district court closed the courtroom for the rest of Russell’s testimony (about an hour), except for members of Eillis’ family, who were allowed to remain. Ellis was convicted and sentenced to 480 months in prison.
On appeal, a divided Fourth Circuit affirmed Ellis’ convictions. While the court recognized that an erroneous complete closure of a courtroom was a structural error, the same didn’t apply to partial closures. Furthermore, partial closures did not require the same level of justification. Here, given the limited nature of the closure, both temporally and in terms of who was allowed to stay in the courtroom, the court found no error. While the district court did not make specific findings justifying its decision, the basis for it was apparent from the record.
Judge Richardson dissented, arguing that the closure was both error and structural.
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