People v. Benson

621 N.E.2d 981, 251 Ill. App. 3d 144, 190 Ill. Dec. 528, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1501
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 30, 1993
Docket4-93-0069
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 621 N.E.2d 981 (People v. Benson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Benson, 621 N.E.2d 981, 251 Ill. App. 3d 144, 190 Ill. Dec. 528, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1501 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE STEIGMANN

delivered the opinion of the court:

In August 1992, a jury convicted defendant, Carl W. Benson, of one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 12 — 16). In January 1993, the trial court sentenced defendant to seven years in prison and ordered him to pay restitution. Defendant appeals, alleging that (1) the court deprived him of his right to a public trial by ordering spectators excluded during the testimony of the child victim, and (2) the court erred by ordering him to pay restitution for anticipated counseling sessions for the victim.

We affirm.

I. Excluding Spectators From The Courtroom

In December 1991, the State charged defendant with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, alleging that he committed acts of sexual conduct against his eight-year-old granddaughter, H.B., involving H.B.’s vagina and defendant’s hand. The jury convicted him of one count and acquitted him of the other.

At the start of the trial, after the prosecutor informed the trial court that H.B. would testify first, the prosecutor asked the court to clear the courtroom while H.B. testified. In support of this request, he cited section 115 — 11 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 38, par. 115 — 11). That section reads as follows:

“In a prosecution for a criminal [sexual] offense *** where the alleged victim of the offense is a minor under 18 years of age, the court may exclude from the proceedings while the victim is testifying, all persons, who, in the opinion of the court, do not have a direct interest in the case, except the media.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 38, par. 115 — 11.

The defendant objected on the basis that his friends and relatives in the courtroom had an interest in the proceeding and that the court ought not grant the prosecutor’s request in the absence of “extraordinary circumstances.” The court then asked counsel to identify the family members present and the nature of the interest of the other spectators, as well. Defendant responded that the spectators were his sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, and neighbors. However, defendant’s response was generalized; he did not identify any particular spectator by name or relationship. He further informed the court that neither his wife nor any of his children were present.

At that point, the court and defense counsel said the following:

“THE COURT: So we only have collateral relatives of his at this point, right?
[Defense counsel]: Yes.
THE COURT: I’m going to grant the [S]tate’s motion and exclude from the courtroom not only these persons who are collateral relatives, but also any other spectators from the courtroom in addition who do not have — I find that that is not a direct interest as contemplated by the statute. So the Court will clear the courtroom.”

The court also stated that the spectators present lacked the direct interest contemplated by the statute. After the court ordered the courtroom cleared, defense counsel made no offer to distinguish particular family members from neighbors among the spectators.

Defendant argues that the trial court’s clearing the courtroom during H.B.’s testimony deprived him of his right to a public trial under the sixth amendment to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amend. VI). In support of this argument, defendant cites Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court (1984), 464 U.S. 501, 78 L. Ed. 2d 629, 104 S. Ct. 819, Waller v. Georgia (1984), 467 U.S. 39, 81 L. Ed. 2d 31, 104 S. Ct. 2210, People v. Holveck (1990), 141 Ill. 2d 84, 565 N.E.2d 919, and People v. Priola (1990), 203 Ill. App. 3d 401, 561 N.E.2d 82.

Because both Press-Enterprise and Waller are distinguishable on their facts from the present case, they provide very little support for defendant’s argument. Press-Enterprise involved a newspaper’s first amendment claim that it had the right to be present during voir dire examination of prospective jurors. The trial court denied the newspaper’s request on the ground that the privacy rights of prospective jurors might be violated. Thus, all but approximately three days of the six-week-long voir dire examination was closed to the public and the media. Press-Enterprise, 464 U.S. at 503-04, 78 L. Ed. 2d at 634-35, 104 S. Ct. at 820-21.

The United States Supreme Court held that this procedure violated the guarantee of open public proceedings in criminal trials. In so holding, however, the Court made clear-that it was concerned about an order which excluded not only the public, but also the media from courtroom proceedings. (See Press-Enterprise, 464 U.S. at 509-10, 78 L. Ed. 2d at 637-38, 104 S. Ct. at 824, quoting Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court (1982), 457 U.S. 596, 606, 73 L. Ed. 2d 248, 257, 102 S. Ct. 2613, 2620, as follows: “ ‘[T]he circumstances under which the press and public can be barred from a criminal trial are limited; the State’s justification in denying access must be a weighty one.’ ” (Emphasis added).) In that context (namely, an order excluding the media from court proceedings), the Court wrote that the presumption of openness may be overcome only by an overriding interest based on findings that closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. Press-Enterprise, 464 U.S. at 510, 78 L. Ed. 2d at 638, 104 S. Ct. at 824.

Waller also addressed a trial court’s exclusion of the media during court proceedings. Over defendant’s objection, that he was being denied his sixth and fourteenth amendment right to a public trial, the trial court in Waller conducted a suppression hearing lasting seven days at which wiretaps were played in open court. (Waller, 467 U.S. at 41-43, 81 L. Ed. 2d at 35-36, 104 S. Ct. at 2212-14.) The State moved to close the suppression hearing in order to avoid breaching the expectation of privacy of persons other than the defendant who might have been recorded during the wiretaps. The court granted the motion and ordered the suppression hearing closed to all persons other than witnesses, court personnel, the parties, and the lawyers. (Waller, 467 U.S. at 42, 81 L. Ed. 2d at 36, 104 S. Ct. at 2213.) The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the trial court had properly balanced the defendant’s rights to a public hearing under Georgia law and the sixth amendment against the privacy rights of others. The United States Supreme Court reversed, holding that the defendant’s sixth amendment right to a public trial applied to the suppression hearing and that the trial court failed to give proper weight to sixth amendment concerns. (Waller, 467 U.S. at 43, 81 L. Ed. 2d at 36, 104 S. Ct.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
621 N.E.2d 981, 251 Ill. App. 3d 144, 190 Ill. Dec. 528, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1501, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-benson-illappct-1993.