During the course of his criminal trial, Troy Hendrix lept onto a nearby table and lunged for the judge. When a court officer intervened, a melee ensued. (Once he was subdued, Hendrix was found to have two handmade knives in his possession.)
After the Kings County Supreme Court granted a mistrial, and excluded Hendrix from his second trial, he was convicted of murder in the first degree (two counts), kidnapping in the first degree (two counts), rape in the first degree, and sodomy in the first degree, and appealed the outcome to the Appellate Division, Second Department.
While our Federal and State Constitutions guarantee a right to be present in the courtroom during one's trial, that entitlement may be lost when an individual shows abject disrespect or disdain for the judicial process and disrupts the proceedings.
In this instance, the AD2 thought Hendrix forfeited his right to be physically present, particularly given his violent temperament. (In other words, there was no error in requiring Hendrix to monitor his trial via an audio and video hook-up.)
Was that all a Purple Haze?
To view a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: People v. Hendrix