The People v. Joel Nelson

This case calls upon the Court to determine the standard applicable to conduct by courtroom spectators that may pose a risk to the defendant’s right to a fair trial. Supreme Court decisions in this area have left us with a “clean slate” upon which to write such a rule (see United States v Farmer, 583 F3d 131, 149 [2009], cert denied 559 US 1058 [2010]).

I concur with the majority that defendant was not deprived of a fair trial. I write separately because I would adopt the standard the Supreme Court applies to state-sponsored courtroom practices that raise similar issues instead of the abuse of…