California Tackles Substitute Analysts Post-Williams
In a paper here I analyze Williams v. Illinois, the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest confrontation decision on substitute analyst testimony. Because Williams was a fractured opinion in which no rationale...
View ArticleFourth Circuit Declines to Take a Restrictive View of Forfeiture by Wrongdoing
I’ve previously discussed the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception to the confrontation clause in this blog (here) and in numerous other publications (for example, here). In a nutshell, the forfeiture by...
View ArticleBeyond Legislative Solutions to Melendez-Diaz
My recent paper (here) on the use of remote testimony in criminal cases involving forensic analysts was written in part because of the flood of interest in legislative solutions to Melendez-Diaz. That...
View ArticleSpecial Rules for the Admission of Hospital Medical Records
Rule 45. This rule surprised me. Before I learned about it, I assumed that when a party sought to introduce hospital medical records at trial, a records custodian appeared in court to testify that the...
View ArticleThe NC Supreme Court’s Recent Substitute Analyst Cases
If you’re on my listserv, you know that the NC Supreme Court recently issued several confrontation clause decisions, all dealing with substitute analysts (if you’re not on my listserv, you can sign up...
View ArticleWith Cert Denials, Hope Fades for Clarification on Use of Substitute Analysts
Mumford & Sons has a song called Hopeless Wanderer. When it comes to substitute analysts and the confrontation clause, that song title sums me up, and maybe you as well. Anyone who practices...
View ArticleUS Supreme Court to Decide Whether Child’s Statements to Teacher Were...
In early October the Supreme Court granted certiorari in an Ohio case, State v. Clark, 999 N.E.2d 592 (Ohio 2013), cert. granted __ U.S. __, 135 S. Ct. 43 (2014), that will require it to decide two...
View ArticleU.S. Supreme Court Rules that Child’s Statements to Teachers Are Non-Testimonial
On June 18th the U.S. Supreme Court decided Ohio v. Clark, 576 U.S. __, 135 S. Ct. 2173 (2015), holding that a child abuse victim’s statements to his preschool teachers were non-testimonial under the...
View ArticleNC Court of Appeals Holds that DMV Records Are Non-Testimonial
In my 23-year career as a lawyer no case has had more impact on the criminal justice system than the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Crawford v. Washington. That case radically revamped the analysis...
View ArticleDoes Crawford Apply in Pretrial Proceedings?
A caller recently asked me: Does Crawford apply at pretrial proceedings, such as suppression hearings and hearing on motions in limine? Neither Crawford nor any of the Court’s subsequent cases provide...
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