State v. Bradley

The principle governing onr disposition of this appeal is that the trial judge had the occasion, which is given neither to us nor to the Court of Appeals, to gauge the totality of the impact upon the jury of the spectator’s demonstration. Was the jury disturbed, alarmed, shocked, or deeply moved? Was the incident of such a nature as to have necessarily influenced the verdict of conviction? These questions necessarily depend on facts which no record can reflect.

Without more appearing in the record than is shown here, only the trial judge can authoritatively determine the answers. That he was…