Fisher v. State

A.E. Fisher was indicted and convicted for the first degree rape of a ten-year-old girl in violation of Alabama Code 1975, § 13A-6-61. Sentence was twenty-five years' imprisonment. Three issues are raised on appeal.

I

The defendant contends that he was denied his right to a public trial under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and under Art. I, § 6, of the Alabama Constitution (1901).

Immediately after the jury was sworn, the trial judge announced, "[B]ecause of the nature of this case, it is the Order of this Court that the courtroom be cleared from any spectators.…