State v. Lawrence

• Citation: 167 N.W.2d 912
• Decision Date: 06 May 1969
• Docket Number: No. 52826,52826
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Richard Paul LAWRENCE, Appellant.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Iowa

Page 912

167 N.W.2d 912

STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Richard Paul LAWRENCE, Appellant.

No. 52826.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

May 6, 1969.

Nelson & Fassler, Cedar Rapids, for appellant.

Richard C. Turner, Atty. Gen., David A. Elderkin, Asst. Atty. Gen., and William G. Faches, County Atty., Cedar Rapids, for appellee.

LARSON, Justice.

The defendant, Richard Paul Lawrence, was indicted by a grand jury for the crime of murder in violation of section 690.1, Code of 1966, committed in Linn County, Iowa, on or about December 20, 1966. Subsequent to a plea of not guilty, a trial by jury was had commencing on June 5, 1967. On June 13 the jury found defendant guilty of murder in the second degree. Pursuant to hearing on defendant's motion for new trial on June 20, which was overruled, the court on June 22 entered its judgment sentencing defendant to the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison, Iowa, for a term of 90 years. Notice of appeal was timely filed on August 14, 1967.

Since the vital question presented by this appeal does not concern the facts and circumstances surrounding the crime, they will be omitted in the interest of brevity. In his assignment of error the defendant contends the trial court erred (1) in excluding the public from the courtroom during the reading of the instructions to the jury, in violation of his right to a public trial, (2) in authorizing the county attorney to subpoena defendant's witnesses after indictment, the effect of which was to allow discovery techniques not in accordance with the law in this jurisdiction, and (3) in abusing its discretion in sentencing defendant.

The record discloses that, through mistake or misunderstanding, the public, including the press, was excluded from the courtroom during the reading of the instructions to the jury. Therefrom we learn that during a recess, when everyone had left the courtroom, the judge instructed the bailiff to see to it that no spectators entered the courtroom during the reading of the instructions to the jury prior to their retiring to deliberate. The bailiff carried out his orders to the extent that no member of the general public was inside the courtroom during that time, although several persons attempted to enter. Defendant's position, then as now, was that the exclusion required a new trial and that it was not necessary for him to show in what manner, if any, he was prejudiced by the exclusion of the public during that time.

I. Of uncertain origin, but nevertheless deeply rooted in the common law, the right to public trial has long been regarded as a fundamental right of the defendant in a criminal prosecution. See 1 Bentham, Rationale of Judicial Evidence (1827), Book II, ch. X; 2 Bishop, New Criminal Procedure, 2d ed. (1913), p. 767; 3 Blackstone's Comm., Lewis ed. (1897), pp. 372--373; 2 Hale, History of the Common Law of England, 5th ed. (1794), pp. 141--142; 2 Coke's Institutes (1797), pp. 103--104; Radin, The Right to a Public Trial, 6 Temple L.Q. 381.

This common law concept, whether guaranteed by constitutional or statutory provision, is universally regarded by state and federal courts as basic and substantial, and the language declaring it as mandatory. State v. Schmit, 273 Minn. 78, 139 N.W.2d 800, 803. Accordingly, it is protected by constitution, statute, or decision in almost every state. Amendment 6, United States Constitution; Article I, Section 10, Iowa Constitution. As to this application, see Matter of Oliver, 333 U.S. 257, 267, 68 S.Ct. 499, 504, 92 L.Ed. 682, 691.

Although this exact question has not been presented in this state, we have recognized that the right to public trial is guaranteed by Article I, Section 10, of the Iowa constitution, which provides in part: 'In all criminal prosecutions, and in cases involving the life, or liberty of an individual the accused shall have a right to a speedy and Public trial * * *.' (Emphasis added.) See State v. Worthen, 124 Iowa 408, 410, 100 N.W. 330, 331.

A number of reasons have been ascribed to the privilege of public trial, but perhaps foremost in providing the accused greater security in the administration of justice. In contrast to Star Chamber techniques, which are alien in a free society, publicity serves as a buttress against unjust prosecution and aids greatly in insuring the accused the fair trial to which he is entitled. See 1 Bentham, supra, pp. 523--524; 1 Cooley, Constitutional Limitations, 8th ed. (1927), p. 647; State v. Worthen, supra. 'The knowledge that every criminal trial is subject to contemporaneous review in the form of public opinion is an effective restraint on possible abuse of judicial power.' Matter of Oliver, supra, 333 U.S. 257, 270, 68 S.Ct. 499, 506, 92 L.Ed. 682, 692. 'Secrecy, where events of public importance are involved, always suggests suppression, and suppression, in its own turn, generates rumors; and rumors, which are planted in the soil of suspicion eventually send forth the ugly plant of perverted truth.' In re Mack, 386 Pa. 251, 277, 126 A.2d 679, 691--692. 'In publicity of the procedure and the trials lie the true safeguards of individual liberty.' 24 Locre 21, quoted in Esmein, A History of Continental Criminal Procedure, 483--484.

Publicity has also been deemed to play an important role in assuring testimonial trustworthiness by inducing fear of exposure of testimony falsely given. 6 Wigmore on Evidence, 3d ed. (1940), section 1834; 1 Bentham, supra; 3 Blackstone, supra, p. 373. In addition, publicity brings notice of the proceedings to the attention of possible witnesses who might be unknown to the parties. See Tanksley v. United States (9th Cir.), 145 F.2d 58, 59, 156 A.L.R. 257, 10 Alaska 443; 6 Wigmore, supra. Publicity may also be said to discourage undue emphasis by the court when charging the jury. When instructing the jury as to the law applicable to a given case, overemphasis by repetition or voice inflection could, of course, materially affect jury consideration of the matter, and such undue emphasis would not be reflected by the printed copy of the instructions later available to the public.

II. The right to a public trial has never existed as a rigid, inflexible straight jacket upon the courts. It has generally been viewed as a right subject to the inherent power of the court to limit attendance as the conditions and circumstances reasonably require for the preservation of order and decorum in the courtroom, and to reasonably protect the rights of parties and witnesses. Annotation, 48 A.L.R.2d 1436, 1448; annotation, 4 L.Ed.2d 2128, 2144. Logically, it has been held restrictions on attendance may be imposed because of limited searing capacity in the courtroom. Davis v United States (8th Cir.), 247 F. 394, 395, L.R.A. 1918C, 1164; People v. Jelke, 308 N.Y. 56, 123 N.E.2d 769, 48 A.L.R.2d 1425; Tate v. Commonwealth, 258 Ky. 685, 693, 80 S.W.2d 817, 821; Payne v. State, 226 Ark. 910, 295 S.W.2d 312. Likewise, to prevent overcrowding, see State v. Schmit, supra, 273 Minn. 78, 139 N.W.2d 800; Myers v. State, 97 Ga. 76, 98, 25 S.E. 252, 260; and to preserve health or sanitary conditions, see People v. Jelke, supra, 308 N.Y. 56, 63, 123 N.E.2d 769, 772, and citations, and People v. Miller, 257 N.Y. 54, 60, 177 N.E. 306, 308. See also Wendling v. Commonwealth, 143 Ky. 587, 601, 137 S.W. 205, 211; State v. Saale, 308 Mo. 573, 579--581, 274 S.W. 393, 395--396.

It is also of paramount importance that order and decorum be preserved in the courtroom. Thus, a judge may exclude anyone from the courtroom who does not conduct himself properly. United States ex rel Orlando v. Fay (2nd Cir.), 350 F.2d 967; Myers v. State, supra; United States v. Kobli (3d Cir.), 172 F.2d 919, 921, 924; State v. Copp, 15 N.H. 212, 214, State v Genese, 102 N.J.L. 134, 142, 130 A. 642, 646. It is also generally held that minors deserve special attention and may be excluded from the courtroom in trials of a salacious nature. State v. Schmit, supra; State v. Adams, 100 S.C. 43, 84 S.E. 368; People v. Byrnes, 84 Cal.App.2d 72, 190 P.2d 290, 291. In other words, courts generally hold that Part of the public may for good and sufficient reason be excluded from the courtroom during trial, but no more persons than are necessary to secure those proper objectives may be excluded. Davis v. United States, supra; United States v. Kobli, supra.

In State v. Worthen, supra, 124 Iowa 408, 100 N.W. 330, our court has also recognized the exclusion of a portion of the public for good cause. Therein the trial court ordered the exclusion of defendant's witnesses because it felt their exclusion would be more conducive to a fair and impartial trial. The defendant appealed alleging he was denied his right to a public trial. In finding no merit in this contention, our court held that a sequestration of defendant's witnesses did not infringe upon his constitutional right to a public trial.

In any event, spectators who conduct themselves properly may not be excluded from any major portion of a trial. Such an arbitrary exclusion would fail to meet our constitutional provision requiring a public trial.

III. All authorities agree that, in the absence of legitimate reasons for limiting public attendance in criminal trials, the concept of public trial includes the entire trial from the impaneling of the jury to the rendering of its verdict. Sirratt v. State, 240 Ark. 47, 398 S.W.2d 63 (1966); United States v. Sorrentino (3d Cir.), 175 F.2d 721, cert. denied 338 U.S. 868, 70 S.Ct. 143, 94 L.Ed. 532, rehearing denied 338 U.S. 896, 70 S.Ct. 238, 94 L.Ed. 551; People v. Teitelbaum, 163 Cal.App.2d 184, 329 P.2d 157 (1958), cert. denied and appeal dismissed 359 U.S. 206, 79 S.Ct. 738, 3 L.Ed.2d 759; People v. Micalizzi, 223 Mich. 580, 194 N.W. 540; 21 Am.Jur.2d, Criminal Law, § 260. See also People v. Harris, 182 Misc. 787, 50 N.Y.2d 745, 763.

In Sirratt v. State, supra, defendant was charged with second degree murder. The trial commenced on January 18, 1965,...