Ex Parte Easterwood

Todd Olen Easterwood was indicted for first-degree sodomy. The indictment charged that Easterwood had engaged in deviate sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 121 by forcible compulsion, a violation of § 13A-6-63(a)(1), Ala. Code 1975. Following a trial, Easterwood was convicted and was sentenced to 22 years' imprisonment. Easterwood appealed, arguing, among other things, that the trial court committed reversible error by allegedly denying his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial under the United States Constitution. On June 23, 2006, the Court of Criminal Appeals, in an…