Docket Decision below: People v. Williams, 238 Ill. 2d 125 (Ill. S. Ct. No. 107550) Question Presented (by the Court): Whether a state rule of evidence allowing an expert witness to testify about the results of DNA testing performed by non-testifying analysts, where the defendant has no opportunity to confront the actual analysts, violates the Confrontation Clause… Read more
A. Generally
Donald Bullcoming v. New Mexico, USSC No. 09-10876, 6/23/11 The question presented is whether the Confrontation Clause permits the prosecution to introduce a forensic laboratory report containing a testimonial certification—made for the purpose of proving a particular fact—through the in-court testimony of a scientist who did not sign the certification or perform or observe the… Read more
State v. Marvin L. Beauchamp, 2011 WI 27, affirming 2010 WI App 42; for Beauchamp: Craig S. Powell; case activity Confrontation – Dying Declaration, § 908.045(3) ¶34 We therefore, like every state court that has considered the dying declaration exception since Crawford, take a position consistent with the language of Crawford and Giles and decline… Read more
7th circuit court of appeals decision Habeas – Certificate of Appealability We pause briefly to note the district court’s error in denying a certificate of appealability in this case. The statute provides that a certificate of appealability may issue “only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.”… Read more
Gordon Sussman v. Jenkins, 7th Cir No. 09-3940, 4/1/11 7th circuit decision, granting habeas relief in State v. Sussman, 2007AP687-CR; in chambers opinion on stay Habeas – Confrontation – Rape Shield and Prior False Allegation The state court unreasonably restricted Sussman’s cross-examination of his chief accuser, and thus violated his right to confrontation, by precluding… Read more
State v. Anthony M. Smith, 2009AP2867-CR, District 1/4, 3/3/11 court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); for Smith: Rodney Cubbie, Syovata K. Edari; case activity Trial court’s limitations on cross-examination with respect to State witness’s “prior mental condition” or use of medications (prescribed for his Bipolar Disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder) upheld as proper exercise… Read more
Michigan v. Bryant, USSC No. 09-150 At respondent Richard Bryant’s trial, the court admitted statements that the victim, Anthony Covington, made to police officers who discovered him mortally wounded in a gas station parking lot. … We hold that the circumstances of the interaction between Covington and the police objectively indicate that the “primary purpose of… Read more
7th circuit decision, reversed, Hardy v. Cross, USSC No. 11-74, 12/12/11 Habeas Review – Confrontation – Pre-Crawford (Ohio v. Roberts) Showing of Witness Unavailability The state court (Illinois) unreasonably applied controlling Supreme Court precedent in finding good-faith efforts to secure the presence of the declarant, before determining that she was unavailable so that her first-trial… Read more
