The First Appellate District reversed a judgment of conviction. The court held that the trial court committed prejudicial error in placing an armed and uniformed bailiff behind the defendant and in having that bailiff accompany the defendant to and from the witness stand and remain behind him while he testified.
Deva Belarde and Arturo Hernandez met sometime during the first week and a half of March. When Belarde saw Hernandez sitting outside her neighborhood liquor store on March 11, she sat down with him. Both were panhandling. Hernandez was drinking beer. Belarde consumed a half pint of vodka and at least one 16-ounce beer, although she may also have consumed a 40-ounce beer. When Hernandez got up to leave, she went with him. He told her that he did not want her to accompany him, but she persisted.
