Aileen Cannon, the judge in the Trump documents case, made multiple errors in an earlier trial

[milestogo]

One of the errors violated a fundamental constitutional right of the defendant and could have invalidated the proceedings, according to legal experts and a court transcript.

WASHINGTON — The judge in former President Donald Trump’s upcoming trial over his handling of classified documents made two key errors in a June trial, one of which violated a fundamental constitutional right of the defendant and could have invalidated the proceedings, according to legal experts and a court transcript.

Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon closed jury selection for the trial of an Alabama man — accused by federal prosecutors of running a website with images of child sex abuse — to the defendant’s family and the general public, a trial transcript obtained by Reuters showed. A defendant’s right to a public trial is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution’s Sixth Amendment.

Cannon, a 42-year-old former federal prosecutor appointed by Trump to the bench in 2020 late in his presidency, also neglected to swear in the prospective jury pool — an obligatory procedure in which people who may serve on the panel pledge to tell the truth during the selection process. This error forced Cannon to re-start jury selection before the trial ended abruptly with defendant William Spearman pleading guilty as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

Cannon’s decision to close the courtroom represents “a fundamental constitutional error,” said Stephen Smith, a professor at the Santa Clara School of Law in California. “She ignored the public trial right entirely. It’s as though she didn’t know it existed.” In Cannon’s decision to close jury selection, the judge cited space restrictions in her small courtroom at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida. Legal experts said closing a courtroom to the public has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as a “structural error” — a mistake so significant that it can invalidate a criminal trial because it strikes at the heart of the entire process. A public trial also has been found to implicate First Amendment rights of freedom of assembly, speech and press.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/aileen-cannon-judge-trump-documents-case-made-multiple-errors-earlier-rcna98207

[flying_wahini]

1. She is in over her head and Jack Smith is looking over her shoulder on this one.

[milestogo]

3. These are rookie mistakes.

If she screws up on the Trump case, her career is over.

[Cha]

2. TY

[dchill]

4. Ignoring Constitutional rights...

... sounds like she's shooting for the Supreme Court.

[WheelWalker]

5. DUzy!

[lastlib]

6. I have yet to hear anybody say she is the sharpest hook in the tackle box.....

Maybe we should be glad she's a judge, and not playing with subatomic particles.....

(OTOH, if tRump's brain is involved, maybe she IS playing with a subatomic particle......)