Aileen Cannon—Judge Hearing Trump’s Documents Case

Topline

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Florida judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s trial for retaining White House documents, made “key errors” during a criminal trial in a separate case earlier this summer, Reuters reports, raising additional questions about the Trump-appointed judge’s credibility as she prepares to oversee the ex-president’s May 2024 trial.

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, then a nominee for the position, speaks remotely during a … [+] Senate Judiciary Committee nomination hearing on July 29, 2020, in Washington.

Associated Press

Key Facts

Cannon presided over a trial in June for defendant William Spearman, who was facing charges of child exploitation and advertising and distributing child pornography.

The judge refused to allow members of the public, including Spearman’s family members, into the courtroom during jury selection, according to a court transcript reported by Reuters, citing a lack of space in the courtroom, despite pleas from both the defense attorney and the prosecutors to allow them in.

Refusing to open the jury selection to outside spectators violates the Sixth Amendment, legal experts cited by Reuters note, and the Supreme Court has ruled not allowing bystanders into courtrooms is a “structural error” that can invalidate the entire trial.

When the defense attorney told Cannon her refusal to allow the family in was a Sixth Amendment violation, Cannon responded, “All right, thank you. Your objection is overruled,” Reuters reports.

Cannon then had to re-start the jury selection because she realized she never swore in the jury pool, Reuters reports, at which point she did say the defendant’s family could come into the courtroom.

The issues ultimately did not affect resolution of the case, as Spearman’s attorneys and prosecutors reached a conditional plea agreement before jury selection could restart.

Crucial Quote

Santa Clara School of Law professor Stephen Smith told Reuters that Cannon’s failure to open the courtroom was “a fundamental constitutional error.” “She ignored the public trial right entirely,” Smith said. “It’s as though she didn’t know it existed.”

What To Watch For

Trump’s trial in the documents case is scheduled to start on May 20, 2024. Legal experts cited by Reuters said the mistakes in Spearman’s trial raise concerns about whether Cannon’s lack of experience could cause issues in his case—the judge has only presided over four criminal trials so far that have resulted in jury verdicts, Reuters notes—particularly given the complexity of the case against Trump and the media attention around it. Her objections about public access to the courtroom also raise questions about how Cannon will handle the significant public interest in Trump’s case.

Key Background

Trump appointed Cannon to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and she was confirmed by the Senate in November 2020. The 42-year-old judge has drawn widespread scrutiny as the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump retaining White House documents has moved forward, as she first presided over a legal dispute in which Trump asked the court to appoint a third-party “special master” to review documents the DOJ seized from his Mar-A-Lago estate. Cannon granted Trump’s request for a special master, delivering a ruling that was widely lambasted by legal experts and was ultimately overturned by an appeals court. The Supreme Court also ruled against Trump on aspects of the dispute, throwing out parts of Cannon’s order. Cannon was then randomly assigned to be the judge presiding over Trump’s criminal trial in the DOJ’s case, after he was indicted for allegedly withholding national security documents and obstructing the DOJ’s investigation. The judge’s assignment on the case sparked widespread fear on the left that she will be unjustly lenient with Trump and some ethics experts have argued she should recuse herself from the case, which Cannon has not done. While the case against Trump is still in its early stages, the judge did rule against a request by Trump’s lawyers to postpone the trial until after the 2024 election.