People v. Gutierez
| Decision Date | 19 September 1995 |
| Citation | 633 N.Y.S.2d 470,86 N.Y.2d 817,657 N.E.2d 491 |
| Parties | , 657 N.E.2d 491 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Blas GUTIEREZ, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed and a new trial ordered. Defendant was convicted, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. On appeal, defendant challenges the court's closure of the trial to the public during the undercover officer's testimony. The trial court erred in excluding defendant's family members from the courtroom. The record indicates that the trial court's closure of the courtroom excluding defendant's close family members was broader than constitutionally tolerable and, thus, constituted a violation of defendant's overriding right to a public trial (see, People v. Martinez, 82 N.Y.2d 436, 444, 604 N.Y.S.2d 932, 624 N.E.2d 1027; People v. Kin Kan, 78 N.Y.2d 54, 58, 571 N.Y.S.2d 436, 574 N.E.2d 1042; see also, Vidal v. Williams, 31 F.3d 67, 69). Although the undercover officer indicated that he feared his life and ongoing drug investigations would be jeopardized, he never claimed to hold those fears with respect to defendant's wife and children and did not otherwise advance any valid ground for excluding defendant's family during the officer's testimony.
On review of submissions pursuant to section 500.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals (22 NYCRR 500.4), order reversed, etc.
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Brown v. Kuhlmann
...858, 683 N.E.2d 764 (1997); People v. Tolentino, 90 N.Y.2d 867, 661 N.Y.S.2d 593, 684 N.E.2d 23 (1997); People v. Gutierez, 86 N.Y.2d 817, 633 N.Y.S.2d 470, 657 N.E.2d 491 (1995); People v. Rosario, 83 N.Y.2d 994, 616 N.Y.S.2d 334, 639 N.E.2d 1131 (1994); People v. Martinez, 82 N.Y.2d 436, ......
-
Downs v. Lape
...exclusion of defendant's minor child from trial could be deemed violation of public trial right); People v. Gutierez, 86 N.Y.2d 817, 818, 633 N.Y.S.2d 470, 657 N.E.2d 491 (1995) (reversing Appellate Division and ordering new trial where exclusion of defendant's “close family members was bro......
-
People v. Hok Ming Chan
...U.S. 911, 93 S.Ct. 970, 35 L.Ed.2d 273; People v. Kin Kan, 78 N.Y.2d 54, 571 N.Y.S.2d 436, 574 N.E.2d 1042; People v. Gutierez, 86 N.Y.2d 817, 633 N.Y.S.2d 470, 657 N.E.2d 491). The majority, in its analysis of the witness's subjective fear and lack of evidence of direct threat as factors, ......
-
Garcia v. Lewis
...burden on state to justify exclusion of specific family members that defendant wishes to attend trial); People v. Gutierez, 86 N.Y.2d 817, 633 N.Y.S.2d 470, 657 N.E.2d 491 (1995) But the trial court had no reason to believe that Garcia was advancing this argument. Garcia's counsel did not, ......