People v. Edwards

Filed 3/18/22 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B309273

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BA465424 v.

JONATHAN MAURICE EDWARDS,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Eleanor J. Hunter, Judge. Affirmed.

Miriam K. Billington, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Scott A. Taryle, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Rene Judkiewicz, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ____________________

It does not violate the confrontation clause for a judge to order trial witnesses to wear masks during the current pandemic. The Constitution does not require judges to imperil public health. A jury convicted Jonathan Maurice Edwards of the attempted murder of his cellmate Raul Sanchez Aguayo. (Pen. Code, §§ 664, 187, subd. (a).) The jury found Aguayo suffered great bodily injury. (§ 12022.7, subd. (a).) As was his right, Edwards demanded a speedy trial. Jury selection began on October 30, 2020. Because of the pandemic, this was the first trial this trial judge had held in eight months. The court told jurors, “First and foremost, we want you to feel comfortable. We want you to feel safe.” Therefore “everybody is required to wear masks, and that’s at all times.” The jury delivered its verdict on November 9, 2020. I The judge required everyone in the courtroom, including witnesses, to wear masks. Edwards argued this order infringed his constitutional right to confront witnesses. Edwards moved for an order barring witnesses from testifying through a mask. The trial court properly denied Edwards’s motion on October 29, 2020. The court faced a public health emergency. Everyone did. At that point, the pandemic had killed over 200,000 Americans. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID Data Tracker <https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data- tracker/#trends_totaldeaths> [as of Mar. 14, 2022], archived at <https://perma.cc/2D4A-2QSA>.) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Science Brief was recommending “community use of masks” to reduce the inhalation of respiratory droplets generated when people cough, sneeze, talk, and breathe. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Science Brief: