You're gonna need a bigger courtroom

A woman convicted of trying to hire a Mafia hitman to murder her husband will get a new trial because some members of her family were excluded from the courtroom during jury selection in 2007.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled today that violated Chicopee resident Donna Wolcott's Sixth Amendment right to a public trial. At issue was the small size of the courtroom, which didn't have enough room for both prospective jurors being screened by lawyers in the case and for members of the public to watch the proceedings.

The judge's on-the-record refusal to allow any members of the public to enter the court room--and the findings that the court officer asked all members of the public to leave the court room, that members of the public remained outside of the court room during jury selection, and the absence of any evidence that these spectators were informed that they could reenter the court room as seats became available--constituted a closure triggering the protections of the Sixth Amendment.

Complete ruling.