Rene Perez, Petitioner: v. the People of the State of Colorado

Summary

The court held that referring to prospective jurors by number in open court did not create an anonymous jury because the parties, including Perez, received the jurors' names and identifying information. The federal anonymous-jury framework therefore did not apply, and the practice did not undermine Perez's presumption of innocence because it was explained as a general privacy policy, the jurors knew their information was available to the parties, and the jury received a presumption-of-innocence instruction. The court also rejected Perez's equal-protection and public-trial arguments and affirmed the judgment. Chief Justice Bender, dissenting, would have treated the practice as an anonymous jury that impermissibly threatened the presumption of innocence and would have ordered a new trial.