In this federal habeas proceeding, the appellate court remanded for an evidentiary hearing to determine the extent to which the jurors saw the shackling of defendant, whose left arm was handcuffed to his chair. The federal court found the state appellate court’s conclusion that the shackling was non-prejudicial to not be fully supported by the transcript, which also could be read to indicate the jury saw the handcuff more than once. Also, the state court did not state which standard of prejudice it was applying to the incident, since different tests of prejudice apply depending on how long the restraint is visible to the jury.
Case Summaries