Talk of the town

By David Oscar Markus

For sure the talk of the town right now is in state court, not fed land.  It's the George Pino trial, who is being represented by Howard Srebnick. The State is represented by Laura Adams. It's such a tragedy all the way around.  Unlike federal court where cameras are not permitted, Florida permits cameras in the courtroom so there is wall to wall coverage of the trial.  Because the case has affected so many members of the community, the whole town is watching and discussing.  

All eyes have been on Pino and there have been lots of comments about his demeanor.  On day one, minutes into the defense opening, Pino broke down. He cried, he shook, he could not catch his breath. Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez stopped the trial, sent the jury out, and called paramedics. She told him to "get a hold of yourself." She also warned the defense not to let him hug his family and friends in the courtroom. "Even gestures are inappropriate," she said. "This is a court of law. We're not at a sporting event."

True, trials are not sporting events.  But I'm not so sure that defendants should not be permitted to show emotion during trial.  Imagine if Pino was stone cold and showed no emotion.  The jurors would certainly pick up on that and discuss it in the jury room.  Justice Kennedy discussed this in Riggins v. Nevada, 504 U.S. 127 (1992), where he wrote that at every stage of trial the defendant's "behavior, manner, facial expressions, and emotional responses, or their absence," combine to shape the jury's overall impression, and that impression "can have a powerful influence on the outcome of the trial." Id. at 142 (Kennedy, J., concurring in the judgment). A drug that flattens a man into looking bored and unfeeling, he warned, is its own kind of prejudice. Id. at 142-43. 

And of course, the system rightfully lets the victim's side show emotion. Families pack the courtroom and wear buttons with the victim's photo. They weep on the stand. The Supreme Court looked at exactly that in Carey v. Musladin, 549 U.S. 70 (2006), and refused to find any clearly established constitutional problem with a victim's family wearing the dead man's face on their chests through an entire trial. Emotion from that side of the aisle is treated as human and expected. 

Meantime, that hasn't been the only drama in the trial... Pino and Adams had an exchange on Friday that was all over the news.