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Does Confrontation Clause bar expert DNA testimony? 

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: December 6, 2011

Tags: Confrontation Clause, criminal, DNA evidence, Melendez-Diaz, Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have already looked at the issue of DNA evidence in criminal cases, with several rulings restricting prosecutors’ ability to admit such data without calling the lab analysts who prepared the tests to testify.

Tuesday, the Court took another look at the issue – this time considering whether expert testimony based in part on DNA database matches is constitutionally barred.

Confrontation Clause ruling isn’t retroactive 

Published: July 29, 2011

Tags: Confrontation Clause, Melendez-Diaz, retroactivity

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling requiring criminal lab report analysts to be available for cross-examination does not apply to a defendant who sought a new trial for a drug conviction that predated that decision, Massachusetts’ highest court has ruled in affirming judgment.

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?

High Court lab analyst case fizzles out 

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: January 29, 2010

Tags: Melendez-Diaz

It looked like a potential blockbuster. But the forensic lab testimony case that started out with a roar ended last week with a whimper. So what happened?

DUI defense attorneys pursue new argument 

By: Sylvia Hsieh
Published: July 30, 2009

Tags: breathalyzer, DUI, Intoxilyzer, Melendez-Diaz

Criminal defense attorneys are already taking advantage of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling to challenge breath test evidence of blood alcohol levels.

Supreme Court to decide second ‘crime lab’ case 

By: Sylvia Hsieh
Published: June 29, 2009

Tags: Confrontation Clause, Melendez-Diaz

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of a state statute requiring a criminal defendant to follow a demand procedure for challenging a crime lab report or else forfeit the right to cross-examine the report’s author.

Supreme Court’s lab report ruling to have big impact 

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: June 26, 2009

Tags: Confrontation Clause, Melendez-Diaz, testimonial evidence

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruling requiring criminal lab report analysts to be available at trial for cross-examination was hailed by defense attorneys who say it will help protect against wrongful convictions.

But prosecutors say that the decision in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts will tax their already strapped resources, and ultimately lead to more cases against alleged drug offenders being dropped altogether.