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Colb on Melendez-Diaz

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At FindLaw.com, regular columnist Sherry Colb writes, "The Right of Confrontation: A Supreme Court Decision Reveals Strong Schisms."  Here's the beginning of a must-read for those who want to dig deep into the ruling.Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts. The Court held that the prosecution may not introduce into evidence a sworn certificate showing the results of forensic analysis (specifically, the fact that a seized substance was cocaine) without triggering the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him. This holding means that if the analyst who certified forensic test results will not appear at trial, then the trial court must exclude the certificate...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on July 02, 2009 (boomark / email).