U.S. Supreme Court 02-28-11

by: Abassos • February 27, 2011 • no comments

Read the full article for details about the following new cases:

• Confrontation - Ongoing Emergency

This morning the Supreme Court of the United States released a new opinion on the Confrontation Clause: Michigan v. Bryant. Justice Scalia was so upset with the 6-2 majority opinion written by Justice Sotomayor that he has declared the Confrontation Clause a shambles. Unfortunately, he's on our side on this issue. The issue is what constitutes an ongoing emergency such that the primary purpose of the statements and of the police is to respond to the ongoing emergency rather than the statements being testimonial. For example, a 911 call during the course of an incident is not testimonial because it is an ongoing emergency. Davis, 547 US at 822. But a domestic violence incident where the officers are at the house and have the two parties separated is testimonial. Hammon. Here, police responded to the scene of a shooting where the shooter was still on the loose and the victim was bleeding to death on the ground in a parking lot. According to the Supremes, the primary purpose inquiry is objective and here, all the objective facts and statements point to an ongoing emergency. More later. Make sure to check out the Confrontation Blog for excellent analysis of this issue. Michigan v. Bryant