People v. Rizo

302 P.3d 284, 2011 WL 1419653, 2011 Colo. App. LEXIS 548
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 14, 2011
DocketNo. 09CA1140
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 302 P.3d 284 (People v. Rizo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Rizo, 302 P.3d 284, 2011 WL 1419653, 2011 Colo. App. LEXIS 548 (Colo. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge BERNARD.

Defendant, Martha Rizo, was convicted by a jury of class two felony sexual assault. The evidence established that she assisted her boyfriend in perpetrating the erime.

Defendant appeals the judgment of convietion, raising two arguments. First, she argues that the jury that convicted her was "anonymous," and, therefore, her rights to a public trial, a fair and impartial jury, due process, and equal protection were violated. Second, she contends that statements she made to the police on the morning after the assault should have been suppressed because she was not advised of her Miranda rights. We are not persuaded by either contention. Therefore, we affirm.

I. "Anonymous" Jury

A. Factual Background

The prospective jurors here filled out questionnaires before they were called into the courtroom. These questionnaires, which were distributed to the court, the prosecution, and the defense, contained the jurors' first and last names, addresses, ages, telephone numbers, and occupations.

Outside the jury panel's presence, the trial court informed the attorneys that they were not to refer to the jurors by name in the courtroom. Rather, the court instructed them to refer to the jurors by their juror numbers. Neither side objected.

The trial court called all the prospective jurors into the courtroom. The court made several introductory remarks describing the process of a trial, including these:

Before you came into the courtroom ... each of you filled out a questionnaire. We have reviewed those questionnaires and we will ask questions of some of you individually back in my office. ...
Some of you may be able to see that there is a number that is affiliated with each of the seats [in the jury box]. Once you come up to the jury box, we will refer to you by your seat number as opposed to your name and I'll explain that in more detail when we start general voir dire.

The court told the prospective jurors that the court and counsel wished to speak with several jurors. The court then called the first name, last name, and juror number of about fifteen of them. The court and counsel questioned them individually in chambers about issues raised by information in their questionnaires. One of these people eventually sat as a juror.

[286]*286After these private interviews, the parties and the court began to select the jury. Outside the jury panel's presence, but in open court and orally on the record, the court listed the first name, the last name, and the juror number of twenty-five of them.

Onee the jurors entered the courtroom, these twenty-five prospective jurors took seats in the jury box. The trial court then told them:

I will be referring to you by your seat number as opposed to your last name. As you can now see, my reporter types very quickly, and she is writing everything down that is said in court. It makes a much cleaner record if we refer to you by your seat number rather than your surname. It's not done out of disrespect or being discourteous to youl[;] it is to make sure that the record is more clearly taken.

The court, addressing the jury panel a short time later to describe the procedure to be taken during breaks, added:

We have a seating chart that has your name affiliated with each of the chair numbers and we need to keep all of you in the same position in the seating chart that you now occupy.

Thereafter, in open court, but outside the jury panel's presence, the court listed replacements-by first name, last name, and juror number-for those who had been removed for cause or by use of a peremptory challenge.

B. Legal Principles

Because defendant did not raise this issue below, we review it to determine whether the court committed plain error. People v. Miller, 113 P.3d 743, 749 (Colo.2005). Plain error is error that is obvious and substantial and "so undermine[s] the fundamental fairness of the trial itself ... as to cast serious doubt on the reliability of the judgment of conviction." Id. at 750 (quoting People v. Sepulveda, 65 P.3d 1002, 1006 (Colo.2003)).

"Generally, an 'anonymous jury' describes a situation where juror identification information is withheld from the public and the parties themselves." State v. Sandoval, 280 Neb. 309, 325-26, 788 N.W.2d 172, 195 (2010). The concept of an anonymous jury arose in the federal courts and was first used to protect jurors from dangerous defendants. See People v. Williams, 241 Mich.App. 519, 522-23, 616 N.W.2d 710, 713 (2000). Use of anonymous juries has expanded and courts now consider several factors when determining if an anonymous jury is appropriate, such as

(1) the defendant's involvement in organized crime; (2) the defendant's participation in a group with the capacity to harm jurors; (8) the defendant's past attempts to interfere with the judicial process or witnesses; (4) the potential that, if convicted, the defendant will suffer a lengthy incarceration and substantial monetary penalties; and (5) extensive publicity that could enhance the possibility that jurors' names would become public and expose them to intimidation and harassment.

Sandoval, 788 N.W.2d at 196 (collecting federal cases).

Although "these are concerns commonly present in cases ... where courts have upheld the use of an anonymous jury ... [other cireumstances may also justify its use." United States v. Branch, 91 F.3d 699, 724 (5th Cir.1996). Therefore, "courts should look to the 'totality of the circumstances'" when determining the propriety of an anonymous jury. Id. (quoting United States v. Ross, 33 F.3d 1507, 1521 n. 26 (11th Cir.1994)).

Even when justified, the impaneling of an anonymous jury can impair the rights of a defendant in two ways. First, such a jury "may interfere with defendants' ability to conduct voir dire and to exercise meaningful peremptory challenges, thereby implicating defendants' Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury." United States v. Shryock, 342 F.3d 948, 971 (9th Cir.2003). Second, "[aln anonymous jury raises the specter that the defendant is a dangerous person from whom the jurors must be protected, thereby implicating the defendant's constitutional right to a presumption of innocence." United States v. Mansoori, 304 F.3d 635, 650 (7th Cir.2002)(quoting Ross, 33 F.3d at 1519).

[287]*287In certain cases, the parties have access to identifying information, but the jurors are always referred to by number rather than by name. These are called "numbers" juries. See Sandoval, 280 Neb. at 326, 788 N.W.24 at 195.

C. Analysis

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Related

Rizo v. People
2013 CO 23 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
302 P.3d 284, 2011 WL 1419653, 2011 Colo. App. LEXIS 548, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-rizo-coloctapp-2011.