Even in A Bench Trial A Defendant Must Be Afforded An Opportunity To Wear Street Clothes

State v. Hazley, Minn.Ct.App., 8/28/2017.  Mr. Hazley waived his right to a jury trial.  The previous day, before he'd done that, the trial judge told him that he would "have to be out of [his] jail clothes" during the jury trial.  There was no further discussion of trial attire and Mr. Hazley appeared before the trial judge in his jail jump suit.  The trial judge found him guilty of third degree burglary.  Mr. Hazley said on appeal - not during trial so this is a "plain error" review - that he was entitled to a new trial because he'd had to wear his jail jumpsuit during the bench trial.

Mr. Hazley said that this was so both on constitutional and criminal rules arguments.  Compelling a defendant to wear jail clothes at trial is a due process violation.  Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501 (1976); State v. Lehman, 749 N.W.2d 76 (Minn.Ct.App. 2008), reviewed denied (Minn. Aug. 5, 2008).  A defendant must, however, object to wearing jail clothes at trial, which Mr. Hazley didn't do.  For that reason, there was no error, one of the requirements under "plain error" so he cannot prevail on his due process claim.

The criminal rules are another matter.  The pertinent rule says that  “[d]uring trial, an incarcerated defendant or witness must not appear in court in the distinctive attire of a prisoner.” Minn. R. Crim. P. 26.03, subd. 2(b).  The rule make no distinction between a jury trial and a bench trial and so the court construes it to apply to both.  For Mr. Hazley, however, there is no prejudice to his appearance in jail clothes because the fact finder - the judge - already know that Mr. Hazley was in custody.

The takeaway here is that even for a bench trial a defendant must be affirmatively asked whether she wants to appear in jail or street clothes.