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Confrontation Clause Case Study

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In his trial for felony murder, the defendant maintained his innocence and claimed that the victim choked to death. Although a non-testifying expert created an autopsy report, it was not introduced into evidence. The questions before this Court are (1) whether the testifying expert violated the Confrontation Clause when he (a) opined about the victim’s cause of death and (b) recited his stomach contents, and (2) if so, whether the violation harmed the defendant.
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Dr. Dyer’s independently-derived opinions did not violate the Confrontation Clause because they were subjected to the defendant’s cross-examination. However, Dyer’s testimony on the stomach contents is a violation of the Confrontation Clause because it was based on the …show more content…
to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” U.S. CONST. amend. VI. The purpose of the Confrontation Clause is to allow a defendant to confront a witness through cross-examination. Thus, testimonial statements are inadmissible under the Sixth Amendment unless the defendant has had the opportunity to cross-examine the witness, as it deprives the defendant of the right to confront his accuser to determine the reliability of the testimony. Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 68 (2004), De La Paz v. State, 273 S.W.3d 671, 680 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008). Evidence must relate to a factual assertion or disclose information. Williams v. State, 116 S.W.3d 788, 791 (Tex. Crim. App. …show more content…
State, where the analyst, testified to his interpretation of a computer-generated report because both witnesses gave their opinion based on non-testimonial evidence. The testimony on the cause of death by Dr. Dyer does not implicate the Confrontation Clause because it is based on the non-testimonial evidence of the pictures from the autopsy that were submitted into evidence along with medical records. Paredes, 462 S.W.3d at 518. Dr. Dyer was not using the testimonial information contained in the report to reach this conclusion. Dr. Dyer’s testimony would violate the Confrontation Clause if it only communicated the observations of the non-testifying expert. Id. But in this case, he is not providing new information, but providing his independent opinion based on information that is available within the record. Therefore, the admission of Dr. Dyer’s testimony, regarding the cause of death did not violate the Confrontation

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