Evidence—Admission of Autopsy Reports and Surrogate Testimony of Medical Examiners Does Not Violate Confrontation Clause—United States v. James, 712 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2013)

The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides criminal defendants with one of the country’s most basic criminal law principles–the right to confront one’s accusers–by prohibiting prosecutors from using a witness’s adverse testimony against the accused without prior opportunity for cross-examination. Determining what types of witness statements require the opportunity for confrontation has undergone dramatic change in recent years. In United States v. James, the Second Circuit considered these changes and held that the Confrontation Clause is not violated when autopsy and toxicology reports are admitted against a defendant, and medical examiners are allowed to testify about them despite not authoring the reports themselves.