140
Breyer, J., concurring
to consider in the first instance whether this Sixth Amendment error was "harmless beyond a reasonable doubt." Chapman v. California, 386 U. S. 18, 24 (1967). See also Lee, 476 U. S., at 547. Accordingly, the judgment of the Supreme Court of Virginia is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings.
It is so ordered.
Justice Breyer, concurring.
As currently interpreted, the Confrontation Clause generally forbids the introduction of hearsay into a trial unless the evidence "falls within a firmly rooted hearsay exception" or otherwise possesses "particularized guarantees of trustworthiness." Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U. S. 56, 66 (1980). Amici in this case, citing opinions of Justices of this Court and the work of scholars, have argued that we should reexamine the way in which our cases have connected the Confrontation Clause and the hearsay rule. See Brief for American Civil Liberties Union et al. as Amici Curiae 2-3; see also, e. g., White v. Illinois, 502 U. S. 346, 358 (1992) (Thomas, J., joined by Scalia, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment); Friedman, Confrontation: The Search for Basic Principles, 86 Geo. L. J. 1011 (1998); A. Amar, The Constitution and Criminal Procedure 129 (1997); Berger, The Deconstitutionalization of the Confrontation Clause: A Proposal for a Prosecutorial Restraint Model, 76 Minn. L. Rev. 557 (1992).
The Court's effort to tie the Clause so directly to the hearsay rule is of fairly recent vintage, compare Roberts, supra, with California v. Green, 399 U. S. 149, 155-156 (1970), while the Confrontation Clause itself has ancient origins that predate the hearsay rule, see Salinger v. United States, 272 U. S. 542, 548 (1926) ("The right of confrontation did not originate with the provision in the Sixth Amendment, but was a common-law right having recognized exceptions"). The right of an accused to meet his accusers face-to-face is mentioned in, among other things, the Bible, Shakespeare, and
Page: Index Previous 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007