Hemphill v. New York [SCOTUSbrief]

Under New York law, a criminal defendant “opens the door” to evidence that would otherwise be inadmissible if the evidence is “reasonably necessary” to correct a misleading impression created by the defense.

When New York prosecutors attempted to submit such evidence in response to Darrell Hemphill’s third-party defense, which accused Nick Morris instead, Hemphill asserted that his rights under the Sixth Amendment had been violated.

Can the use of a third-party defense “open the door” to testimonial hearsay? Claudia Trupp of the Center for Appellate Litigation discusses the meaning of the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause in Hemphill v. New York.

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.

Learn more about Claudia Trupp:
https://www.appellate-litigation.org/our-staff/

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Related Links & Differing Views:

SCOTUSblog: “Justices affirm Crawford’s application of Sixth Amendment confrontation clause to testimonial evidence”
https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/01/justices-affirm-crawfords-application-of-sixth-amendment-confrontation-clause-to-testimonial-evidence/

FedSoc Blog: “The Rule of Completeness After Hemphill”
https://fedsoc.org/commentary/fedsoc-blog/the-rule-of-completeness-after-hemphill

New York State Bar Association: “The Supreme Court, the Constitution and ‘Misleading’ Arguments”
https://nysba.org/the-supreme-court-the-constitution-and-misleading-arguments/

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review: “Evidence—Sixth Amendment and the Confrontation Clause—Testimonial Trumps Reliable: The United States Supreme Court Reconsiders Its Approach to the Confrontation Clause”
https://lawrepository.ualr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1238&context=lawreview

Tennessee Law Review: “The Modest Impact of the Modern Confrontation Clause”
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3816667

Florida State University Law Review: “The Confrontation Clause and the Hearsay Rule: A Problematic Relationship in Need of a Practical Analysis”
https://ir.law.fsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2259&context=lr

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review: “Confrontation During COVID: A Fundamental Right, Virtually Guaranteed”
https://repository.law.miami.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1140&context=umrsjlr

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