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Defendant's Absence From Trial For Religious Reasons Held To Be Voluntary Waiver

By Howard M. Friedman

In Eubanks v. Lempke, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23642 (SD NY, Feb. 22, 2011), a New York federal district court denied a habeas corpus petition filed by Isaac Eubanks, a Muslim, who was absent from his state court trial for religious reasons on the Friday when the jury returned with its verdict convicting him of robbery and possession of stolen property. The federal court held that the state court's determination that Eubanks had voluntarily waived his right to be present was not objectively unreasonable. He had attended pre-trial proceedings on other Fridays.  His counsel did not object at trial and the state has a "controlling public interest" in protecting the integrity of jury deliberations.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on March 11, 2011 (boomark / email).