The Confrontation Blog

This blog is devoted to reporting and commenting on developments related to Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004). Crawford transformed the doctrine of the Confrontation Clause, but it left many open questions that are, and will continue to be, the subject of a great deal of litigation and academic commentary.

Monday, May 27, 2024

The argument in Smith v. Arizona: The Question Presented

›
        I put up a short post on the argument in Smith v. Arizona   right after the case was decided, and intended to present a fuller accou...
1 comment:
Tuesday, January 23, 2024

People v Washington: pending Michigan case with multiple interesting issues

›
 I have previously posted about a Michigan case, People v. Washington .  It is now in the state supreme court, and will be argued in March;...
1 comment:
Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Argument in Smith v. Arizona; a preliminary report

›
 The Supreme Court heard argument this morning in Smith v. Arizona .  It's going to be a couple of days until I can give a fuller report...
5 comments:
Thursday, January 04, 2024

Comments on the Arizona and SG briefs in Smith v. Arizona, Part 2

›
 Arizona and the SG, and some of the other supporting amici as well, raise once more the supposed multi-witness problem – i.e., the idea tha...
2 comments:
Thursday, December 28, 2023

Thoughts on the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation brief in Smith v. Arizona

›
               I’m hoping to write more in a few days on the Arizona and SG briefs in Smith v. Arizona .  But my old friend Eric Freedman ha...
2 comments:
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Comments on the Arizona and SG briefs in Smith v. Arizona, Part 1

›
Smith v. Arizona , in which I am hoping the Supreme Court will clear up some of the confusion created by its splintered decision in Williams...
2 comments:
Monday, November 20, 2023

Smith v. Arizona -- top-side briefs filed

›
Petitioner filed his brief in Smith v. Arizona last week, and today a bunch of amici, most in support of Petitioner, filed theirs.  You can ...
1 comment:
Saturday, September 30, 2023

Smith v. Arizona -- cert grant in a case that might clear up the Williams mess

›
 Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari  in Smith v. Arizona , No. 22-899, a case that might help provide some clarity much needed ...
5 comments:
Friday, June 23, 2023

Samia v. United States: The Supreme Court cuts back on Bruton

›
The Supreme Court today decided Samia v. United States , and in doing so cut back substantially on the rule of Bruton v. United States (196...
1 comment:
Monday, March 06, 2023

Cert denied in Shields. What should counsel do at preliminary hearing?

›
     This morning, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Shields v. Kentucky, No. 22-450, on which I have previously posted, here and here...
Friday, February 17, 2023

Another good decision in a fresh-accusation case

›
 There are, in my view, a lot of bad decisions involving fresh accusations, made shortly after the alleged crime, often to a 911 operator or...

Shields v. Kentucky: BIO, reply, and ready for conference

›
 I reported in an earlier post on the cert petition in Shields v. Kentucky . The Commonwealth has now filed its brief in opposition , and S...
1 comment:
Tuesday, December 27, 2022

A useful opinion on statements not reported explicitly at trial

›
On the first of this month, the Michigan Court of Appeals issued a useful decision, People v. Washington , concerning the situation in which...
2 comments:
Monday, December 26, 2022

Shields v. Kentucky: A cert petition to watch on preliminary-hearing testimony

›
Jonathan Ellis and Gregory DuBoff of the McGuire Woods firm have filed an excellent cert petition in Shields v. Kentucky , No. 22-450.  The ...

Samia v. United States: Cert granted in a Bruton-type case

›
 Earlier this month, the Supreme Court granted cert in Samia v. United States , in which it may resolve one of the issues left open by Bruto...
2 comments:
Tuesday, August 02, 2022

A good decision in a fresh-accusation case

›
I use the term fresh accusations  to cover statements made shortly after an event asserting that someone committed a crime.  Often, though n...
2 comments:
Tuesday, May 17, 2022

A good decision from the Fifth Circuit on the "why we acted the way we did" end run

›
I have written before -- most recently  here -- about how too often a court allows a prosecutor to introduce a testimonial statements on the...
1 comment:
Tuesday, February 22, 2022

An encouraging cert denial in an autopsy case

›
It's always a mistake to read too much into a denial of certiorari, but I find encouraging the Supreme Court's denial this morning i...
2 comments:
Wednesday, February 09, 2022

The "why I acted the way I did" end-run

›
 Prosecutors often try to get in testimonial evidence from absent witnesses by arguing that it is not offered for the truth of what it asser...
4 comments:
Friday, January 21, 2022

Hemphill v. New York: the right call

›
  Apologies for being silent so long. The Supreme Court decided Hemphill v. New York this week.   The Court held that the Confrontation C...
2 comments:
‹
›
Home
View web version

Contributors

  • Richard D. Friedman
  • Richard D. Friedman
Powered by Blogger.