Criminal Procedure — right to a public trial

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Wisconsin Supreme Court

Criminal

Criminal Procedure — right to a public trial

A defendant who fails to object to a judicial decision to close the courtroom forfeits the right to a public trial, so long as the defendant is aware that the judge has excluded the public from the courtroom.

“[T]he Sixth Amendment right to a public trial may be asserted by the defendant at any time during a trial. A defendant who fails to object to a judicial decision to close the courtroom forfeits the right to a public trial, so long as the defendant is aware that the judge has excluded the public from the courtroom. Although the Supreme Court has categorized a violation of the right to a public trial as a structural error, that categorization does not mandate a waiver analysis, and a defendant need not affirmatively relinquish his right to a public trial in order to lose it. It would be inimical to an efficient judicial system if a defendant could sit on his hands and try his luck in a closed courtroom only to argue after his conviction that his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial had been violated.”

Affirmed.

2011AP2424-CR & 2012AP918-CR State v. Pinno

Prosser, J.

Attorneys: For Appellant: Kachinsky, Leonard D., Appleton; For Respondent: Weber, Gregory M., Madison; Toney, Eric, Fond du Lac