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Supreme Court Says 'Crawford' not Retroactive
The Supreme Court's 2004 decision Crawford v. Washington redefined the standard for admission of out-of-court statements by witnesses absent from trial in criminal cases. The impact of the decision was, as Wikipedia described it, immediate and profound. The question remained open, however, as to its retroactive effect on cases already final.
As Lyle Denniston reports at SCOTUSblog, the Supreme Court answered that question today, ruling 9-0 in Whorton v. Bockting that Crawford is not retroactive. Denniston writes:
"In an opinion by Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., the Court found that the decision limiting out-of-court statements as criminal evidence was a new rule and was not a 'watershed rule' so it does not apply to earlier cases."
Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on February 28, 2007 at 05:19 PM | Permalink
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