State v. Jackson

36 P.3d 500, 178 Or. App. 233, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1828
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided November 28, 2001·No. 98048756C; A106134·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinions

[235]*235WOLLHEIM, J.

Defendant appeals from his conviction for second-degree sexual abuse. ORS 163.425. He raises three assignments of error. Defendant argues first that he is entitled to a new trial because his trial, which was held within the confines of the Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI) in a room that was not open to the public, violated constitutional provisions that entitle him to a public trial. Second, defendant argues that he is entitled to a new trial because the trial court erred in permitting the victim to testify from a remote location via a speakerphone during defendant’s case-in-chief, in violation of defendant’s confrontation rights. Finally, defendant asserts in a supplemental brief that the order of the Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court permitting the Malheur County Circuit Court to designate SRCI as a location at which it may sit is void and that he therefore is entitled to dismissal with prejudice of the charge against him. We do not address defendant’s assignment of error pertaining to the Chief Justice’s order because it is unpreserved. We do not reach the issue concerning the victim’s testimony, because we conclude that defendant is entitled to a new trial on the ground that he was denied his constitutional right to a public trial.

The facts are straightforward. Defendant was charged with first-degree sodomy. ORS 163.405. The crime was alleged to have been committed within SRCI, where defendant and the victim were both incarcerated. For reasons not stated in the record of this case, the jury was selected and sworn in at the courthouse in Vale but was then transported to SRCI for the evidentiary portion of the trial, which was conducted in a room at SRCI that was not open to the public. The court, however, arranged for live television transmission of the trial to the courthouse in Vale, where the images were broadcast in a room where seating was available for approximately 10 spectators. Apparently, a live television transmission camera also was set up to transmit images from the spectator area in the Vale courthouse into the room at SRCI where the trial was being held, although no tapes of such transmission are a part of this record. The live television transmission from the room at SRCI showed the judge, the [236]*236witness stand, and part of the jury box. The attorneys could not be seen on the live television transmission but their voices could be heard. Defendant could not be seen on the live television transmission.

At trial, the victim testified in person that, on September 11, 1997, he was transferred into a cell with defendant and moved out again that evening. He testified that, during the time they shared the cell, defendant twice forced him to submit to anal intercourse. Defendant presented a consent defense. The victim was recalled for further testimony by the defense but over defendant’s objection he was permitted to testify from a remote location via speakerphone. The court instructed the jury on the crime of first-degree sodomy and on the lesser-included offense of second-degree sexual abuse, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty on the lesser-included offense of second-degree sexual abuse.

As noted, defendant objected to the trial being held inside SRCI in a room that was not open to the public. He based his objections on Article I, section 10, and Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution. He reasserts his arguments under those constitutional provisions. Article I, section 10, provides, in part, that “[n]o court shall be secret, but justice shall be administered openly and without purchase, completely and without delay.” Article I, section 11, provides, in part, that “[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the right to public trial by an impartial jury in the county in which the offense shall have been committed[.]” Defendant contends that, because the public was unable to attend his trial, both of those constitutional provisions were violated.

Although the protections afforded by the cited constitutional provisions are similar in many ways, the rights involved differ significantly, as does the scope of the protections. The right to a public trial afforded by Article I, section II, is a right that is personal to the criminal defendant, whereas the protections of Article I, section 10, belong to the people at large and cannot be waived by individual litigants. State ex rel Oregonian Pub. Co. v. Deiz, 289 Or 277, 282-83, 613 P2d 23 (1980). Article I, section 10, rights are absolute, see Oregonian Publishing Co. v. O’Leary, 303 Or 297, 302, [237]*237736 P2d 173 (1987), whereas under Article I, section 11, there are circumstances in which a defendant’s right to a public trial may be circumscribed if “the state makes a substantial showing of a need to limit that right.” State v. Bowers, 58 Or App 1, 4, 646 P2d 1354 (1982). There exists some question as to whether the protections of these two provisions are coextensive in criminal proceedings. Also, case law does not make it entirely clear whether the “absolute” nature of the Article I, section 10, public right can, 'in fact, mandate that a criminal proceeding be open to the public in circumstances where an individual defendant’s Article I, section 11, right might otherwise be circumscribed after a showing of substantial need by the state. In Bowers, we noted this issue but did not need to resolve it because, in that case, no showing of need to limit the public’s attendance at trial was made. Id. As discussed below, the same is true here.

The record in this case is devoid of any reason why this trial was held at the prison. We are able to infer from the trial court file that the trial was originally scheduled to be held in the courthouse in Vale but was set over, after which the court decided that it would be held at the prison. We also can infer from certain documents and correspondence made part of the record on appeal that the impetus for the trial being conducted at SRCI came from the trial court rather than from the prosecutor.

In response to defendant’s assertion that the procedure used here violated Article I, section 11, the state argues on appeal, first, that the live television transmission arrangement satisfied the “public trial” requirements of Article I, section ll.1 The state further argues that, even if the live television transmission arrangements were not adequate in that [238]*238regard, it was not required to make a showing of a substantial need to conduct the trial at SRCI, because defendant never asked that the court make specific findings as to whether a substantial need existed. Alternatively, the state suggests that this court may infer from the record that it had a substantial need to conduct the trial at SRCI because the majority of the witnesses (consisting of inmates and prison staff) were located there and because Malheur County had only one van in which to transport inmates from the prison to the county courthouse.

The threshold question is whether a live television transmission of a trial from a location not open to the public to a separate location open to the public, accompanied by a simultaneous live television transmission from the location open to the public back to the courtroom, is a “public trial” for purposes of Article I, section 11.

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State v. Jackson, 36 P.3d 500, 178 Or. App. 233, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1828 (Or. Ct. App. 2001).

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