The juvenile court prejudicially violated the minors confrontation rights in admitting the victims statement to a police officer. The determination of whether the statement was testimonial for purposes of Crawford v. Washington (2004) 541 U.S. 36 in this case requires an analysis of whether it resulted from police interrogation, and here, the circumstances surrounding the interview suggested an interrogation. The questioning was more thorough and formal than is usual in a preliminary investigative interview, and thus the nature and extent of the interview suggest that the statement was the product of an interrogation.
Case Summaries