Baldwin
People v. Baldwin
Opinion
Opinion
Robie, J.
In this case we hold the trial court violated defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial when it closed the courtroom to all spectators during the testimony of a 14-year-old molestation victim based only on the prosecutor’s assertion the victim would have difficulty testifying. Finding the error structural, we will reverse defendant’s convictions and remand the case for a new trial.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
The People charged defendant Gary Don Baldwin with 15 counts of sexually molesting his girlfriend’s daughter D.W. from the time she was nine until she was 12 years old and two counts of physically abusing his own children. The People further alleged he had been convicted of a serious felony that also qualified as a strike. Defendant contested the charges and allegations in a bifurcated trial.
Out of the jury’s presence and before any witnesses had been called, the prosecutor requested the courtroom be closed to spectators during D.W.’s testimony, resulting in the following colloquy between the parties and the court:
“[THE PROSECUTOR]: [T]he People’s first witness is a minor and she’s the named victim of all of the sexual offenses in this case,…