Autopsy reports inadmissible in health fraud case 
Published: January 23, 2012
Tags: Bullcoming v. New Mexico, Confrontation Clause, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts
The testimony of the medical examiners who authored autopsy reports was required for the documents to be admitted as evidence in the criminal trial of a doctor who allegedly over-prescribed pain killers, the 11th Circuit has ruled in reversing a conviction.
Justices: Substitute analysts cannot introduce lab tests
Published: June 23, 2011
Tags: Confrontation Clause, evidence, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, Supreme Court
The Confrontation Clause does not permit laboratory test reports to be introduced through the in-court testimony of an analyst who did not personally perform or observe the performance of the test, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.
CONFRONTATION CLAUSE
Published: June 23, 2011
Tags: Confrontation Clause, evidence, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, Supreme Court
The Confrontation Clause does not permit laboratory test reports to be introduced through the in-court testimony of an analyst who did not personally perform or observe the performance of the test.
See “Justices: Substitute analysts cannot introduce lab tests”
U.S. Supreme Court. Bullcoming v. New Mexico, No.
» Continue Reading.
Admission of breath test records constitutional
Published: May 27, 2011
Tags: breath test, Confrontation Clause, drunk driving, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts
A drunk driving defendant’s constitutional rights were not violated by the admission of breath test certification records without the testimony of the state technician who prepared them, Massachusetts’ highest court has ruled in affirming a conviction.
Proof of prior felony violated Confrontation Clause
Published: April 20, 2011
Tags: Confrontation Clause, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts
Prosecutors violated a drug defendant’s Confrontation Clause rights when they attempted to prove his prior felony conviction through letters from a state court clerk, the D.C. Circuit has ruled in vacating a firearm conviction.
High Court confronts case of substitute lab analyst
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: March 2, 2011
Tags: Confrontation Clause, evidence, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – Nearly two years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that lab reports used as evidence in criminal trials are testimonial evidence, and therefore the Confrontation Clause requires that the technicians who prepared them be made available to testify, the justices are still wrangling with the parameters of that rule.
Defendant in seminal Confrontation Clause case acquitted
By:
David Frank
Published: February 18, 2011
Tags: Confrontation Clause, Melendez-Diaz, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, Sixth Amendment, Supreme Court
Luis Melendez-Diaz made national headlines in 2009 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause required prosecutors to put a drug analyst on the stand before introducing a lab certificate into evidence.
Justices to decide another Confrontation Clause case
By:
Sylvia Hsieh
Published: September 28, 2010
Tags: Confrontation Clause, Melendez-Diaz, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, Sixth Amendment, Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a blood-alcohol test admitted without the live testimony of the officer who prepared the results violates a criminal defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights under the Confrontation Clause.
CONFRONTATION CLAUSE
By:
Sylvia Hsieh
Published: September 28, 2010
Tags: Confrontation Clause, Melendez-Diaz, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, Sixth Amendment, Supreme Court
Does the prosecution violate the Confrontation Clause by admitting blood-alcohol test results without the live testimony of the analyst who prepared them and substituting it with live testimony of another person who didn’t perform or observe the lab analysis?
Supreme Court declines to revisit laboratory report ruling
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: January 25, 2010
Tags: Confrontation Clause, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to carve out an exception to its ruling requiring prosecutors to make forensic lab analysts available to testify at criminal trials where lab reports are entered into evidence.
SUBSCRIBERS: Did you receive the new Lawyers USA Weekly Update in your inbox on Monday?
If not, click here to register and learn more now.
