NEW MEXICO
v.
EARNEST
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Per Curiam.
We vacate the judgment of the Supreme Court of New Mexico and remand for further proceedings not inconsistent with the opinion in Lee v. Illinois, 476 U. S. 530 (1986).
It is so ordered.
Justice Rehnquist,
with whom The Chief Justice, Justice Powell, and Justice O’Connor join,
concurring.
I agree that the decision of the Supreme Court of New Mexico should be vacated and the case remanded for further consideration in light of Lee v. Illinois, 476 U. S. 530 (1986). The Supreme Court of New Mexico held that the admission against respondent of an out-of-court statement of a codefen-dant violated respondent’s rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. The court believed that Douglas v. Alabama, 380 U. S. 415 (1965), was “directly on point” and mandated the reversal of respondent’s conviction because there had been no opportunity for respondent to cross-examine the codefendant, either at the time the statement was made or at trial. 103 N. M. 95, 98-99, 703 P. 2d 872, 875-876 (1985).
As Lee v. Illinois makes clear, to the extent that Douglas v. Alabama interpreted the Confrontation Clause as requiring an opportunity for cross-examination prior to the admission of a codefendant’s out-of-court statement, the case is no longer good law. Although Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U. S. 56 (1980), did not attempt to set forth specific standards for constitutional admissibility applicable to all categories of hearsay, see United States v. Inadi, 475 U. S. 387, 392-393 (1986), that decision did establish that a lack of cross-examination is not necessarily fatal to the admissibility of evidence under the Confrontation Clause. See Lee v. Illinois, supra, at 543.* In the instant case, therefore, the State is entitled to an opportunity to overcome the weighty presumption of unreliability attaching to codefendant statements by demonstrating that the particular statement at issue bears sufficient “indicia of reliability” to satisfy Confrontation Clause concerns.
*
For example, in a case in which the State claims that a eodefendant’s confession is admissible because it “interlocks” with the defendant’s confession, Lee v. Illinois sets out the following test:
“If those portions of the codefendant’s purportedly ‘interlocking’ statement which bear to any significant degree on the defendant’s participation in the crime are not thoroughly substantiated by the defendant’s own confession, the admission of the statement poses too serious a threat to the accuracy of the verdict to be countenanced by the Sixth Amendment. In other words, when the discrepancies between the statements are not insignificant, the codefendant’s confession may not be admitted.” 476 U. S., at 545.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805 (U.S. 1990)…onfession supported by sufficient indicia of reliability including, inter alia, “extensive and convincing corroboration by petitioner’s own confession” and “further corroboration provided by the physical evidence”). See also New Mexico v. Earnest, 477 U. S. 648, 649, n. (1986) (Rehnquist, J., concurring); Dutton v. Evans, 400 U. S. 74, 88-89 (1970) (plurality opinion). The Court today suggests that the presence of corroborating evidence goes more to the issue whether the admission of the hearsay statement…
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United States v. Garcia, 897 F.2d 1413 (7th Cir. 1990)…States v. Fairman, 712 F. 2d 315, 318 (7th Cir.1983), where we held the confrontation clause requires that hearsay statements of unavailable witnesses must be excluded at trial absent adequate indicia of reliability. See also New Mexico v. Earnest, 477 U.S. 648, 649-50, 106 S.Ct. 2734, 2734-35, 91 L.Ed.2d 539 (1986); United States v. Feldman, 761 F. 2d 380, 387 (7th Cir.1985). “[T]he constitutional test [is] not whether there was an opportunity for ... cross-examination, but whether there are adequate indi…1 / 2
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United States v. York, 933 F.2d 1343 (7th Cir. 1991)…that the statement is unreliable. Lee v. Illinois, 476 U.S. 530, 543, 106 S.Ct. 2056, 2063, 90 L.Ed.2d 514 (1986); Dutton v. Evans, 400 U.S. 74, 83-86, 91 S.Ct. 210, 216-218, 27 L.Ed.2d 213 (1970) (plurality opinion); see also New Mexico v. Earnest, 477 U.S. 648, 649, 106 S.Ct. 2734, 2735, 91 L.Ed.2d 539 (Rehnquist, J., joined by Burger, C.J., and Powell and O’Connor, JJ., concurring in order vacating and remanding case for reconsideration in light of Lee v. Illinois) (“As Lee v. Illinois makes clear, to th…1 / 2
Authorities Cited
- Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56 (U.S. 1980)
- Douglas v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 415 (U.S. 1965)
- LEE v. Illinois, 476 U.S. 530 (U.S. 1986)
- United States v. Inadi, 475 U.S. 387 (U.S. 1986)