People v. Roman

• Decision Date: 20 January 1975
• Citation: People v. Roman, 35 N.Y.2d 978, 365 N.Y.S.2d 527, 324 N.E.2d 885 (N.Y. 1975)
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: , 324 N.E.2d 885 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Rafael ROMAN, Appellant.

Page 527

365 N.Y.S.2d 527

35 N.Y.2d 978, 324 N.E.2d 885

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v.Rafael ROMAN, Appellant.

Court of Appeals of New York.

Jan. 20, 1975.

William E. Hellerstein and Philip L. Weinstein, New York City, for appellant.

Mario Merola, Dist. Atty. (Kenneth P. Olsen, New York City, of counsel), for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

At the opening of his trial defendant's counsel requested that defendant be permitted to wear his own street clothing as is usual during the trial.The court refused this request and defendant was obliged to appear during his trial wearing distinctive prison attire, not otherwise described in the record.The District Attorney concedes that the People can advance no reason why it was necessary to try this defendant in prison uniform.

A defendant is presumed innocent and he is entitled to appear in court with the dignity and the self-respect of a free and innocent man.To forbid him to wear his own clothing and to require him to appear in convict's attire--a continuing visual communication to the jury--is to deny him this right.(For cases in other jurisdictions see41 Am.Jur., Criminal Law, § 239;cf.Bentley v. Crist, 9 Cir., 469 F.2d 854and cases citedat n. 3;see, also, American Bar Association, Project on Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, Trial by Jury, § 4.1(b), App. Draft (1968).)While there may be situations which present problems of implementation of a defendant's request that he not wear prison garb, there is no such circumstance suggested in this case.The fact that the crimes charged here were committed while this defendant was incarcerated, a factor cited by the Trial Judge, makes no difference in our view (semble contraUnited States ex rel. Stahl v. Henderson, 5 Cir., 472 F.2d...