Confrontation Clause
Testimonial hearsay

In 2004, in Crawford v. Washington, the Supreme Court of the United States significantly redefined the application of the Sixth Amendment's right to confrontation. In Crawford, the Supreme Court changed the inquiry from whether the evidence offered had an "indicia of reliability" to whether the evidence is testimonial hearsay. The Crawford Court decided the key issue was whether the evidence was testimonial because of the Sixth Amendment's use of the word "witness". Quoting a 1828 dictionary, the Court explained that a witness is one who "bear testimony" and that "testimony" refers to a "solemn declaration or affirmation made for the purpose of establishing some fact". Nonetheless, in Crawford, the Supreme Court explicitly declined to provide a "comprehensive" definition of "testimonial" evidence. The Crawford decision left the other basic components of the Confrontation Clause's applicability—the witness's availability and the scope of the cross examination—unchanged.
startend:end_checker