Bullcoming v. New Mexico is a significant Confrontation Clause case decided by the United States Supreme Court. On June 23, 2011, the Supreme Court considered the issue whether a defendant's Confrontation Clause

Confrontation Clause

The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right…to be confronted with the witnesses against him." Generally, the right is to have a face-to-face confrontation with witnesses who are...

 rights extent to a non-testifying laboratory analyst whose supervisor testifies as to test results that the analyst transcribed from a machine. In a five to four decision authored by Justice Ginsburg, the Court held that the second surrogate analyst could not testify about the testimonial statements in the forensic report of the certifying analyst under the Confrontation Clause.

The case follows a line of decisions, including Crawford v. Washington

Crawford v. Washington

Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 , is a United States Supreme Court decision that reformulated the standard for determining when the admission of hearsay statements in criminal cases is permitted under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment...

(2004) and Davis v. Washington

Davis v. Washington

Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813 , was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that hearsay statements made in a 9-1-1 call asking for aid were not "testimonial" in nature and thus their introduction at trial did not violate the Confrontation Clause as defined in Crawford v...

(2006), that altered the Court's interpretation of the Confrontation Clause guarantee and clarified its application only to "testimonial" statements.

Issue

Whether the Confrontation Clause permits the prosecution to introduce testimonial statements of a nontestifying forensic analyst through the in-court testimony of a supervisor or other person who did not perform or observe the laboratory analysis described in the statements.

Procedural History

The cases was decided on June 23, 2011. The oral argument before the United States Supreme Court took place on March 2, 2011. The Supreme Court of New Mexico issued its decision, 147 N.M. 487, 226 P.3d 1, on February 12, 2010.

External References

• Bullcoming v. New Mexico Resource Page Containing background information and links to key materials on the case.
• Slip Opinion from the Supreme Court