Smith v. Miller

Opinion of the Court by

Justice KELLER.

I. INTRODUCTION

Appellant appeals from the Court of Appeals’s affirmance of Appellee’s order holding Appellant in contempt of court for violating Appellee’s separation-of-witnesses directive during a trial. Because we find that Appellant did not violate Ap-pellee’s separation-of-witnesses directive, which prohibited witnesses from discussing their trial testimony with other witnesses, we reverse the Court of Appeals and vacate Appellee’s contempt order.

II. BACKGROUND

During a criminal trial in the Breckin-ridge Circuit Court, after Appellee had “invoked the…