Secret Jury-Select Plan Appealed in Casey Anthony Murder Case; Similar Issue Wins Reversal in Wash. - ABA

Secret Jury-Select Plan Appealed in Casey Anthony Murder Case; Similar Issue Wins Reversal in Wash.
Posted May 3, 2011 6:16 PM CDT
By Martha Neil

Excerpt:

As some media organizations today appealed a Florida judge's rules for offsite jury selection in an upcoming high-profile murder trial, an appeals court in a different state yesterday reversed an unrelated murder conviction because the trial judge briefly closed the courtroom during jury selection.

The appeal concerning secret jury selection in the upcoming Casey Anthony murder trial does not involve all of the media organizations that objected to the confidentiality rules, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

. . .

Meanwhile, a Washington state appellate court faced with a similar issue in an unrelated case reversed a second-degree murder conviction because the judge had closed a crowded courtroom during jury selection over a lack of space, the Seattle Times reports.

READ MORE: http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judges_rulings_restricting_public_access_to_courtroom_during_jury_selection/