In Osborn v. State, the Court of Appeals of Georgia recently overturned the felony convictions of Edward Osborn because the trial court conducted a portion of his voir dire in a church. This change of location occured because of a bomb threat at the court.
In his appeal, Mr. Osborn contended: the trial court erred by holding a critical stage of his trial (voir dire) in a church, over his objection and without permission of the proper governing authority, in violation of OCGA sec. 15-6-18. In response to Mr. Osborn's appeal, the state argued that he waived this argument because he did not make this specific objection at trial. The appeals court disagreed and found that the issue was preserved for review on appeal and provides ground for reversal.
Bottom line: If you want to hold voir dire outside of the courtroom, get the defendant to buy-in.
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