Is there a constitutional right to require that defense witnesses dress in civilian clothes?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Williams, B281118 (Cal. App. 2018):

constitutional right to require that defense witnesses dress in civilian clothes, although it may be an abuse of discretion to refuse a timely request. (See People v. Froehlig (1991) 1 Cal.App.4th 260, 264.)

In extreme circumstances, displaying a former codefendant in jail clothing despite a proper and timely objection may deprive a defendant of a fair trial, and thus amount to constitutional error. (See, e.g., People v. Williams (1979) 93 Cal.App.3d 40, 67.) For example, if the prosecution caused three former codefendants to be displayed in jail attire together before the jury on three separate occasions throughout the trial, including during the prosecutor's closing argument, and other significant occasions during trial, that would be egregious in the extreme. (Id. at pp. 64-65.)

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