SCOTUS should hear case in which shackled defendant reenacted murder, with no defense objection, Sotomayor says
Image from Shutterstock.com. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented Monday when the high court refused to hear a case in which a shackled defendant reenacted a murder during his sentencing, with no objection from his defense lawyer. The shackling was all too evident during petitioner Frederick R. Whatley’s reenactment, Sotomayor asserted in her dissent to the cert denial. “Whatley’s chains clanked and rattled with every move, constantly reminding the jury that the court apparently believed he might do more than just pretend to kill someone in the courtroom if left unrestrained,” Sotomayor wrote.