State v. Momah

¶1 The Washington Constitution provides in relevant part that an accused has the right to “a speedy public trial by an impartial jury.” Const, art. I, § 22 (emphasis added). This case asks us to determine whether a defendant’s constitutional right to a public trial under article I, section 22 was violated when the trial court closed a portion of voir dire to safeguard the defendant’s right to a trial by an impartial jury. While our previous article I, section 22 cases have focused on the defendant’s right to a public trial, this case implicates both the right to a public trial and the right…