Allshouse v. Pennsylvania

Amicus curiae brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania supporting grant of the petition for certiorari.

Brief filed: 06/07/2010

Documents

Allshouse v. Pennsylvania

United States Supreme Court; Case No. 09-1396

Argument(s)

Petitioner was convicted in state court of simple assault and endangering the welfare of a child; state supreme court held that a statement by the infant’s four-year-old sister to a county children’s and youth services investigator that petitioner injured the infant’s arm was “nontestimonial” and admissible without violating the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause. Statements elicited by government child advocacy investigators are forensic in nature and therefore testimonial, although there is a split in authority on this question.

Author(s)

Prof. Jules Epstein, Widener University School of Law, Wilmington, DE.