Goston v. State

How many times may a defendant misbehave at his or her jury trial before a trial judge may remove the defendant from the courtroom? How many times must a trial judge accept a defendant’s false promises that he or she will not disrupt trial proceedings before the trial judge has the discretion to no longer believe the defendant’s assertions? Where a defendant has evidenced past violent behavior, and on the day of trial states that he might get violent, is this conduct sufficient to permit the trial judge to exclude the defendant from the courtroom? In my view, Goston’s repeated, false promises…