CLEP American Government, Chapter 22

Confrontation of witnesses

The Confrontation Clause gives a criminal defendant an opportunity to challenge the prosecution's testimonial witnesses through cross-examination. A statement is especially likely to be testimonial when it was created for the primary purpose of establishing facts for a later prosecution, such as formal testimony or a structured police interview. If the prosecution offers such a statement from an absent witness, the witness ordinarily must be unavailable and the defendant must have had an earlier adequate opportunity to cross-examine that person. Suppose a prosecutor reads a sworn laboratory accusation prepared for trial while keeping the analyst away from court. The defendant has a strong confrontation objection because the prosecution is using testimonial evidence without exposing its source to questioning. An urgent statement made to help police respond to an ongoing emergency may be nontestimonial and require a different analysis.