Downs v. Lape

CHIN, Circuit Judge:

I respectfully dissent.

On the second day of trial, after jury selection and just before opening statements, the trial court ruled — off the record — that petitioner-appellant Everett Downs’s twelve-year old brother, Nathaniel, could not remain in the courtroom because of his age. Downs’s mother had no choice but to take Nathaniel home. Downs was deprived of his right to have his family present — his mother for the day and Nathaniel for the entirety of the trial. Nathaniel was deprived of his right to be in the courtroom to support his brother.

Numerous cases have held that…