State v. Smith

*511¶1 This case presents the issue of whether sidebar conferences implicate a criminal defendant’s right to a public trial under article I, section 22 of the Washington Constitution and require a conviction to be overturned. William Glen Smith claims that the trial court violated his public trial right when courtroom limitations led to holding sidebar conferences in a hallway outside the courtroom on the record with counsel present. Smith argues that these sidebars were courtroom closures subject to State v. Bone-Club, 128 Wn.2d 254, 906 P.2d 325 (1995). Because the trial court did not perform a…