Editor’s Note: Law Week Colorado edits court opinion summaries for style and, when necessary, length.
Zachary Roper appealed his conviction of two counts of sexual assault. Roper claimed the trial court’s exclusion of all members of the public from the courtroom, despite their being able to view the trial in a separate courtroom via a live audio and video stream, constituted a complete closure and violated his right to a public trial. The Colorado Court of Appeals concluded the separate courtroom livestream constituted a partial closure and the trial court’s findings were insufficient to support partial closure, but disagreed the mere inadequacy of the court’s findings rose to structural error. The appeals court remanded the case for the limited purpose of making supplemental findings pursuant to the Waller v. Georgia U.S. Supreme Court case.
Roper’s trial was originally scheduled for April 2020, but he requested and was granted a continuance. After a second continuance, the trial was rescheduled for October 2020. Roper then asked for a third continuance, stating he would waive his speedy trial right and requested four family members and four friends be permitted to attend his trial in person. He asserted not allowing these people to be present in the courtroom during his trial would violate his right to a public trial.
The trial court denied Roper’s request for a third continuance. During the pretrial discussions, the trial court informed the parties the trial would be in a smaller courtroom and the public could observe the trial proceedings via Webex. Roper requested, and the trial court agreed, to advise each witness the trial was being observed via Webex.
During the pretrial hearing and at the start of the trial, Roper objected to restricting the public’s access to the courtroom.
The trial court convicted Roper of two counts of sexual assault.
Roper appealed. He contended the trial court’s exclusion of all members of the public from the courtroom, despite their ability to watch the trial on Webex, constituted a complete closure of the courtroom. Roper argued the closure, whether complete or partial, wasn’t justified under Waller and violated his right to a public trial, resulting in structural error requiring automatic reversal.
The appeals court concluded the separate courtroom livestream constituted a partial closure and the trial court’s findings were insufficient to support partial closure. But the appeals court disagreed the mere inadequacy of the court’s findings rose to structural error.
The state of Colorado argued the livestream arrangement constituted a fully public trial and wasn’t a closure at all. The appeals court found no merit in this contention. The opinion noted the appeals court didn’t believe the Sixth Amendment permitted an unfettered shift to televised, but otherwise closed, trial proceedings.
The appeals court also disagreed the closure was trivial. The appeals court noted the closure was for the entire duration of trial, and was intentional and precluded in-person attendance by Roper’s family. The appeals court concluded a closure occurred sufficient to implicate Roper’s right to a public trial.
The appeals court also concluded the trial court didn’t make adequate findings the closure was no broader than necessary and there were no reasonable alternatives to the steps taken.
The appeals court remanded the case to the trial court for the limited purpose of making supplemental Waller findings.
Stone Group Holdings v. Ellison and MC2 Boulder
Todd Ellison and MC2 Boulder LLC appealed three separate district court orders that granted summary judgment to Stone Group Holdings on its breach of contract claim, awarded attorney fees based on fee-shifting language in that contract and sanctioned Ellison, MC2 and their attorney D.J. Marcus for failing to disclose certain information during discovery. The Colorado Court of Appeals concluded the notice of appeal was untimely and dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.