Crap will continue till trials
Here is the standard jail clothes motion edited to just the stun belt and full restraint issues.
DEFENDANTS MOTION TO PERMIT ACCUSED TO APPEAR
IN CIVILIAN CLOTHING AND WITHOUT RESTRAINTS
AT ALL PROCEEDINGS
Defendant respectfully moves this Court for an order permitting Defendant to appear at all in-court proceedings (including all pre-trial hearings at which Defendant appears in court) in civilian clothes instead of a prison uniform and
without restraint by any means, including shackles or a stun belt. In addition, once trial begins, Defendant requests that measures be taken to ensure that the jurors never see him in restraints in or out of the courtroom.
2. Appearance Without Restraints
Defendant contends that there are no facts specific to this case that would justify
restraint in any manner during pretrial or trial proceedings including by means of a
stun belt, hand restraints, leg restraints, or other similar tools of confinement.
The Federal and the State Constitutions guarantee a criminal defendant the right to effective assistance of counsel. The use of physical restraints diminishes that right. Shackles can interfere with the accused' s ability to communicate with his lawyer. Indeed, they can interfere with a defendant's ability to participate in his own defense, say by freely choosing whether to take the witness stand on his own behalf.
Defendant specifically asserts that there is no justification for restraining him by use of a
stun belt. Defendant anticipates that the State may contend that, unlike old-fashioned shackles, a
stun belt does not run afoul of the edicts against restraining trial defendants without just cause.
The Ohio Supreme Court has reversed cases where a stun belt has not been amply justified on the record.
Therefore any such contention made by the State fails because, like chains and shackles,
a stun belt remains visible to the public and to jurors, and it restrains the defendant in part with psychological fear and anxiety that manifests itself in a defendants demeanor in ways inimical to the constitutional rights at issue in Deck.
This Court must guard against heightened security precautions that make the accused look like a dangerous individual.
Providing adequate and routine courtroom security serves as a reasonable alternative to restraining Defendant. Instead of utilizing restraints, this Court can simply employ security personnel to ensure order and decorum on the assumption that the number of security persons does not in and of itself overwhelm Defendants presumption of innocence. There has been no indication that more is needed.