Peter Vidal v. Joseph Williams, Superintendent of Fulton Correctional Facility

LUMBARD, Circuit Judge:

Peter Vidal appeals from a judgment of the District Court for the Southern District of New York, Preska, </., dismissing his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court held that Vidal’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial was not violated when his criminal trial in the New York Supreme Court, Bronx County, was closed to the public — including Vidal’s parents — during the testimony of an undercover police officer. As we conclude that the exclusion of Vidal’s parents was improper, we reverse and remand.

I

The trial testimony showed the following. On…