State v. Njonge

¶1 We granted review of the public trial issues in this case, most notably whether the portion of jury *549selection in which the court excuses jurors for hardship is a proceeding to which the public trial right attaches. The Court of Appeals concluded that it is, and that Joseph Njonge’s public trial right was violated when the trial court purportedly excluded observers during hardship excusáis. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals remanded for a new trial without reaching Njonge’s other assignments of error, including claims that the trial court improperly excluded a family member of the victim…