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Saturday, July 25, 2009
Courts - Another view on Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts
Robert McCartney, Metro Columnist for the Washington Post, had a column Thursday on the impact of the SCOTUS decision in Melendez-Diaz in Virginia, where the Governor has called a speicial session to deal with it, and other jurisdictions:
By contrast, the impact has been minimal in the District and Maryland. The District has been making witnesses available since 2006, and Maryland has a law enabling prosecutors to invite the defense to effectively accept the use of documents alone before the trial starts.The impact could mushroom, though, and affect more jurisdictions and more kinds of cases. Two Fairfax judges have ruled in DWI cases that the prosecutor had to make available not only the operator who performed the breath test but also the technician who calibrated the machine or certified it as part of routine maintenance every six months. Defense attorneys are also hoping that they could start requiring police to make available the technicians who calibrate radar guns or other equipment used to catch speeders.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 25, 2009 10:19 AM
Posted to Courts in general