Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Cert Grant in Confrontation Case

The Supremes granted cert yesterday in Bullcoming v. New Mexico.  The certified issue is:
Whether the Confrontation Clause permits the prosecution to introduce testimonial statements of a nontestifying forensic analyst through the in-court testimony of a supervisor or other person who did not perform the laboratory analysis described in the statements.
HERE's a link to the New Mexico Supreme Court opinion.

This case sparks my interest on the military side where drug lab experts often testify about the lab work of other chemists, but any time the Court weighs in on the Confrontation Clause, it has the potential for broad impact.  This is one to watch.