Odgren case: Will emotions overrule motions?

“A criminal trial is much like theater,” noted J.W. Carney, Jr., a prominent Boston attorney, “and I’m always conscious of the subtle aspects.” A small yet significant part of his trial success involves strategizing with regard to client support. Carney specifically instructs the relatives of his defendants to arrive early at court so as to claim seats front and center. Meanwhile the families of victims, often sequestered in a private room accompanied by the victim-witness advocate, usually appear in the courtroom just prior to the start of proceedings. When, on occasion, a court officer asks him to have his client’s family relinquish the choice seats to the relatives of the victim, Carney flatly refuses.

In a recent publication sponsored by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Ft. Worth attorney Mimi Coffey challenges the constitutionality of the customary courtroom arrangement in which the prosecution table is closer to the jury box than the defense table. According to Coffey, this affords the prosecution a better vantage point for making eye contact and for observing important signs of body language.

The Woburn courtroom to which the Odgren trial is assigned has the usual configuration of attorney tables behind which there are several rows of gallery benches divided in the middle by a wide center aisle (see below). The victim’s family—his mother, father and a few others—is seated behind the prosecution and the defendant’s mother, father and brother are behind the defendant. Although the alignment of the two families behind the respective attorney tables is logical, the potential unfairness identified by Coffey may be compounded. After all, Alenson’s parents are almost within arm’s reach of the back end of the jury box.

Anyone who has ever planned a wedding, bar mitzvah or other ceremonial event knows of the complexities and importance of seating arrangement. The same level of care would be appropriate in courthouses, especially when the human emotions are as critical as legal motions.

Courtroom 730, Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, MA