People v. Jones

OPINION OF THE COURT

Wesley, J.

“Buy-and-bust” cases often involve the testimony of an undercover officer. When the People can establish an overrid ing interest that open-court testimony by an undercover officer would jeopardize the officer’s safety, the Trial Judge may close the courtroom during the testimony of that witness. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the posting of a court officer outside the courtroom as a screening device under the circumstances of this case amounts to an “alternative to closure” that implicated defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial.…