United States v. Gupta, 650 F.3d 863

Gupta charged with one count of immigration fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a); trial began March 24, 2008.
Public voir dire involved exclusion of Gupta's brother and girlfriend to protect the venire from outside influence.
Gupta alleged the courtroom closure during voir dire was unjustified; affidavits and district court findings followed remand.
District court adopted a deputy's affidavit detailing the exclusion, and the matter was remanded to the Second Circuit for fact-finding under Jacobson.
The panel held the four-factor Waller/Presley test governs closures; government conceded the closure violated the test but urged a triviality exception; Gupta argued Presley undermined that exception; the majority affirmed the district court and Gupta’s conviction.
Dissent (Judge Parker) would reverse due to undisclosed, entire-voir dire closure as a structural Sixth Amendment violation.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the voir dire closure violated the Four-Factor test	Gupta: closure violated Waller/Presley	Gupta: closure not trivial	No; closure deemed trivial and not a constitutional violation
Effect of Presley on the triviality exception	Gupta: Presley narrows/undermines exception	Gupta: Presley does not alter the exception	Presley does not alter the triviality exception

Waller v. Georgia, 467 U.S. 39 (U.S. 1984) (public-trial right extends to voir dire; four-factor test for closure)
Presley v. Georgia, 130 S. Ct. 721 (S. Ct. 2010) (reaffirms four-factor Waller test; does not expand triviality exception)
Gibbons v. Savage, 555 F.3d 112 (2d Cir. 2009) (implements triviality exception; voir dire closure not implicating values)
Peterson, 85 F.3d 42 (2d Cir. 1996) (first articulation of the triviality standard for unjustified closure)
Carson v. Fischer, 421 F.3d 83 (2d Cir. 2005) (applies triviality analysis to closure during voir dire)
In re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257 (U.S. 1948) (historical public-trial origins and rationale)