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Giles v. California: no "forfeiture by wrongdoing" exception to 6th Amendment

Today the newspapers and blogs are all abuzz about the decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana and the Court's prohibition on the death penalty for child rape, but the opinion issued today which will likely have far more impact on criminal law is Giles v. California. In Giles, which is a 6-3 decision with the majority opinion authored by Justice Scalia, the Court rejects the holding of the California Supreme Court that statements made to a murder victim to a police officer in response to a domestic violence call were admissible because the defendant forfeited his right to confront the victim's testimony by killing her -- an intentional act that made the victim unavailable for trial. The Court rejects the doctrine of forfeiture by wrongdoing as an exception to the 6th Amendment by finding that it was not an exception establishing at the time the Amendment was adopted...continue to full post

Full post as published by Harmful Error on June 25, 2008 (boomark / email).