Wire
Virgin Islands trial closed the courtroom, but convictions stand
The Third Circuit said Paul Girard and Kareem Harry were denied a public trial when proceedings opened without access and their mothers were kept out on several days. Still, the court affirmed both convictions because neither man objected at the time.
A federal appeals court said two men convicted in the U.S. Virgin Islands were denied their Sixth Amendment right to a public trial, but it did not throw out their cases. The Third Circuit said Paul Girard and Kareem Harry went to trial behind closed doors at the start, then faced another barrier when federal marshals kept their mothers from entering on several trial days.
Even so, the panel affirmed both convictions. Its bottom line was blunt: the men were still given a fair trial, and they did not raise an objection when the courtroom access problem was happening.
The right that was violated
The panel said the trial began with no public access to the courtroom. That alone was enough for the court to recognize a constitutional problem, because public trials are meant to keep criminal proceedings open to scrutiny, not hidden from view.
The access issue did not end there. Federal marshals stationed outside the courtroom also prevented the defendants’ mothers from entering on several trial days, adding a personal layer to a proceeding that was already missing the public.
Why the convictions stayed
Girard was described as the head of a violent drug-trafficking enterprise in the Virgin Islands, and the jury convicted him on 22 counts of drug, firearm, racketeering and other charges. Harry was identified as the enterprise’s armorer and was convicted on seven counts of racketeering and firearms offenses.
The court said the failure to object mattered. That left the convictions intact even though the judges found the public-trial right had been violated.