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Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Courts - State of Indiana co-authors amicus brief in Melendez-Diaz challenge

From a press release issued yesterday:

INDIANAPOLIS -- Following a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that abruptly required crime-lab analysts to start testifying at criminal trials, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s office has co-authored a friend-of-the court brief asking that the decision be limited or even overturned.

The Supreme Court’s ruling in last term’s Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts case potentially requires prosecutors to call lab analysts as witnesses in every case where crime-lab reports are relevant, rather than simply introduce the certified report at trial as prosecutors have done in the past. Such an interpretation of the Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses threatens to increase laboratory-testing backlogs and needlessly imperil criminal prosecutions, Zoeller said.

“Left unchecked, the Melendez-Diaz precedent would give defense attorneys limitless opportunities to game the system and create procedural excuses for suppressing the evidence against their clients, when in fact there is usually no dispute over the lab evidence itself. The burden to taxpayers in manpower and lost productivity for lab technicians to travel constantly to courthouses to testify would be enormous,” Zoeller said.

This term, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider another case, Briscoe v. Virginia, questioning whether states can place reasonable restrictions on defendants demanding lab analysts testify in person when prosecutors use lab reports as evidence.

In the Briscoe case, Zoeller’s office has co-authored a friend-of-the-court brief – called an ‘amicus curiae’ brief in legal terminology – submitted to the Supreme Court, arguing defendants should have to give advance notice to the prosecution if they intend to put a crime-lab technician on the witness stand. Alternatively, the brief asks the Supreme Court to overturn its recent 5-4 Melendez-Diaz decision before it becomes too deeply engrained in the U.S. legal system.

“Criminal trials in the real world are not like ‘CSI’ or ‘Law & Order,’” Zoeller said. “Crime-lab analysts are not witnesses to the actual crime. In Indiana, only two laboratories handle forensic testing for the entire state and have only 24 drug chemists between them. They should not have to testify in every one of the 13,900 drug cases they received last year. If the Melendez-Diaz precedent remains in place, the backlog of cases to be tested will only worsen and many drug charges will get dismissed because the analyst is not available to testify. This can only serve as a detriment to the judicial system and the public’s safety.”

Intended to support the Commonwealth of Virginia’s position in the Briscoe case, the friend-of-the-court brief filed Monday was co-authored by the Attorney General’s offices of Indiana and Massachusetts and signed by the attorneys general of 24 other states and the District of Columbia. Drafting the brief were Indiana Solicitor General Thomas M. Fisher and Indiana deputy attorneys general Stephen Creason, Heather Hagan and Ashley Tatman. The brief borrows from an amicus brief authored by Alabama and joined by Indiana in last term’s Melendez-Diaz case. Alabama joined Indiana’s brief in the Briscoe case.

“We zealously support the Sixth Amendment protection that all defendants have the constitutional right to confront and cross-examine witnesses. But no right is absolute; and we are hopeful once the U.S. Supreme Court sees the havoc Melendez-Diaz has unleashed on the criminal justice system, that it will limit its ruling – to the benefit of crime victims and law enforcement,” Zoeller said.

Zoeller added that his office authors or co-authors amicus briefs on issues of legal and public-policy importance and signs onto others authored by other state attorneys general to send a united message in cases heard before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Here is the 58-page brief, submitted by:
THE STATES OF INDIANA, MASSACHUSETTS, ALABAMA, ARIZONA, COLORADO, CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, FLORIDA, IDAHO, IOWA, KANSAS, MARYLAND, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, NEW JERSEY, NEW MEXICO, NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO, OKLAHOMA, SOUTH CAROLINA, SOUTH DAKOTA, TENNESSEE, UTAH, WASHINGTON, WISCONSIN, WYOMING AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENT
Here is an ILB entry from July 15th, headed "Impact of the crime lab testimony decision," and one from July 1st, headed "Is Melendez-Diaz already endangered?"

In addition, our Supreme Court has acted on several Melendez-related challenges. See this ILB entry from Sept. 29th, headed, "'Supreme Court upholds conviction of South Bend molester'; some comments on Melendez-Diaz' application in Indiana" for background.

Briscoe is set for argument Monday, Jan. 11, 2010. Here is the ScotusBlog Wiki page.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 4, 2009 08:02 AM
Posted to Courts in general | Ind. App.Ct. Decisions | Ind. Sup.Ct. Decisions