Clothes make the man

Sometimes common sense does carry the day in our justice system. An appeals court in Trenton ruled Monday that a defendant's accomplice, already jailed after striking a plea bargain, can't show up in shackles and prison garb to testify on behalf of the prosecution. The outfit conveys guilt - that the man is "one of the 'criminal class' '' - and makes it too easy for jurors to transfer that mind-set to the defendant, the panel decided.

It's hard to believe this prison garb ban on prosecution witnesses hasn't been in place for years. It's long been applied to defendants and defense witnesses. The court did make an exception for security risks, but the prosecution has to prove the security concerns outweigh the potential prejudice.

Nice try by the Warren County prosecutor's office in trying to win its case, but the unfairness of putting a bad guy in uniform on the stand is obvious. The jury should focus on what he says, not on how he looks in a telltale outfit. The defendant still is entitled to a presumption of innocence.