P. v. Smith CA5
Defendant was convicted of inflicting corporal injury on Shannon, a cohabitant. Shannon’s son, Anthony, told police that he had heard his mother yell, “Stop Victor, you’re going to kill me.” At trial, Shannon refused to testify, and Anthony claimed he did not remember what was said during the incident. An audio recording of Anthony’s statement to police, in which he conveyed Shannon’s utterance to defendant, was played for the jury. Defendant contends this violated his right to confrontation under the Sixth Amendment. We disagree. The confrontation clause was satisfied with respect to Anthony because he was “confronted” (i.e., available for cross-examination at trial); and the confrontation clause is inapplicable to Shannon because she was not a “witness[] against” defendant (i.e., her statement was not testimonial).
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