While a trial court failed to expressly mention its application of the Waller test when excluding one spectator from the courtroom, a 5-2 majority of the Colorado Supreme Court concluded that the lower court’s record still satisfied the four factors for justifying the partial closure and didn’t violate the defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to a public trial.
Terrel Turner and Christopher Cruse were both tried and convicted for burglary of a marijuana dispensary. On the second day of the trial in Arapahoe County District Court, Christopher Cruse’s wife, Yolanda Cruse, was arrested and charged for allegedly threatening the victim advocate and prosecution witness in a hallway outside the courtroom.
