This article is (c) 1994 THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
ARK. SUPREME COURT SAYS JUDGE WAS WRONG TO CLOSE JURY SELECTION
Date: Wednesday, March 2, 1994
Section: News
Page: A7
Source: By Joan I. Duffy The Commercial Appeal
Little Rock Bureau
Dateline:
Edition: Final
The Arkansas Supreme Court sided with The Commercial Appeal
Tuesday and said a judge in Jonesboro erred in excluding the public
and press from jury selection for the trial of Damien Wayne Echols
and Charles Jason Baldwin.
The court ruled 5-1, with one justice not participating, that Circuit
Judge David Burnett exceeded his authority in ordering the
closed-door questioning of prospective jurors.
The ruling said nothing about the newspaper's request for tape
recordings or transcripts of the jury selection, which was completed
by the time the issue reached the high court.
Burnett closed the proceedings over the newspaper's objections after
both defense attorneys and the state requested private examinations.
They said the nature of the case required them to ask sensitive
questions about sexual abuse and child molestation that would be
difficult for prospective jurors to address honestly in open court.
The Supreme Court based Tuesday's ruling on past decisions, which
strictly limit the discretion of judges to close jury selection.
"Members of the public, probably including members of a victim's
family, have the right to hear the voir dire examination of individual
jurors," the court ruled. "Cases have been reversed in this court
because of answers given by prospective jurors which subsequent
investigation established were false, or at least incorrect."
Chief Justice Jack Holt Jr. disagreed with the majority ruling, saying
the court in this case and in several precedents has oversimplified the
issues and given "short shrift to a defendant's right to receive a fair
trial, creating what appears to be an absolute right to open hearings
regardless of the circumstances."
"The petition before us presents in the starkest terms the opposition
of two values of immeasurable worth in our national history and our
legal culture - the right of a free press to observe and report criminal
trials and the right of a criminal defendant to a fair trial," Holt said in
his dissent. ''Both concepts are deeply rooted in the Anglo-American
experience, but when they conflict, one must yield to the other. In my
opinion, this court has made the wrong decision in declaring error
and, in so doing, has once again elevated a qualified right into an
absolute right."
After testimony ended Tuesday, Burnett said, "I'll follow whatever
orders of the court I'm required to follow. But after reading the
opinion, I was impressed by the dissent."
Keywords: COURT RULING AR MEDIA TRIAL
Document Number: 9401100252
All content herein is (c) 1994 THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
and may not be republished without permission.
THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
ARK. SUPREME COURT SAYS JUDGE WAS WRONG TO CLOSE JURY SELECTION
Date: Wednesday, March 2, 1994
Section: News
Page: A7
Source: By Joan I. Duffy The Commercial Appeal
Little Rock Bureau
Dateline:
Edition: Final
The Arkansas Supreme Court sided with The Commercial Appeal
Tuesday and said a judge in Jonesboro erred in excluding the public
and press from jury selection for the trial of Damien Wayne Echols
and Charles Jason Baldwin.
The court ruled 5-1, with one justice not participating, that Circuit
Judge David Burnett exceeded his authority in ordering the
closed-door questioning of prospective jurors.
The ruling said nothing about the newspaper's request for tape
recordings or transcripts of the jury selection, which was completed
by the time the issue reached the high court.
Burnett closed the proceedings over the newspaper's objections after
both defense attorneys and the state requested private examinations.
They said the nature of the case required them to ask sensitive
questions about sexual abuse and child molestation that would be
difficult for prospective jurors to address honestly in open court.
The Supreme Court based Tuesday's ruling on past decisions, which
strictly limit the discretion of judges to close jury selection.
"Members of the public, probably including members of a victim's
family, have the right to hear the voir dire examination of individual
jurors," the court ruled. "Cases have been reversed in this court
because of answers given by prospective jurors which subsequent
investigation established were false, or at least incorrect."
Chief Justice Jack Holt Jr. disagreed with the majority ruling, saying
the court in this case and in several precedents has oversimplified the
issues and given "short shrift to a defendant's right to receive a fair
trial, creating what appears to be an absolute right to open hearings
regardless of the circumstances."
"The petition before us presents in the starkest terms the opposition
of two values of immeasurable worth in our national history and our
legal culture - the right of a free press to observe and report criminal
trials and the right of a criminal defendant to a fair trial," Holt said in
his dissent. ''Both concepts are deeply rooted in the Anglo-American
experience, but when they conflict, one must yield to the other. In my
opinion, this court has made the wrong decision in declaring error
and, in so doing, has once again elevated a qualified right into an
absolute right."
After testimony ended Tuesday, Burnett said, "I'll follow whatever
orders of the court I'm required to follow. But after reading the
opinion, I was impressed by the dissent."
Keywords: COURT RULING AR MEDIA TRIAL
Document Number: 9401100252
All content herein is (c) 1994 THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
and may not be republished without permission.
