6th Amendment – confrontation

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7^th Circuit court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Joel Rivas

Case No.: 13-3526

Officials: POSNER, EASTERBROOK, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 6^th Amendment – confrontation

Appellant given ample opportunity to cross examine finger print examiner on fingerprint identification method, therefore 6^th amendment right to confrontation was not infringed.

“Here, the limitation on cross‐examination did not prevent the jury from fully evaluating Rottman’s testimony. “The Confrontation Clause guarantees an opportunity for effective cross‐examination, not cross‐examination that is effective in whatever way, and to whatever extent, the defense might wish.” Delaware v. Fensterer, 474 U.S. 15, 20 (1985). The judge’s ruling in this case only limited the defense’s ability to add additional detail about the potential fallibility of the ACE‐V method, and the Mayfield case was of at best marginal relevance. See United States v. Nelson, 39 F.3d 705, 708 (7th Cir. 1994) (finding no Sixth Amendment violation, stating “limitations on cross‐examination did not deny the defendants the opportunity to establish that the witnesses may have had a motive to lie; rather, the limitations denied them the opportunity to add extra detail to that motive”). Rivas’s defense counsel used the testimony she elicited from Rottman during her cross‐examination to argue in closing argument that two partial fingerprints from two different people could incorrectly result in a match using the ACE‐V method, and the specific details of the Mayfield case were not needed to make that point.”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.