Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a defendant’s murder conviction on Thursday because a Denver judge violated his constitutional right to a public trial.
Due to an unusually large jury pool at Edward R. Sandoval’s 2022 trial, Chief Judge Christopher J. Baumann did not allow observers to be present in his courtroom during jury selection. Although the public could tune in to the livestream, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel concluded that it was not a substitute for keeping the courtroom open — especially considering the less-drastic alternatives suggested by the prosecution and the defense.
“The court rejected these suggestions without explaining why they would not work and presumably based on its belief that livestreaming (jury selection) was sufficient to preserve Sandoval’s right to a public trial,” wrote Judge Rebecca R. Freyre in the Oct. 30 opinion…