Ohio v. Roberts
United States Supreme Court
448 U.S. 56 (1980)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Roberts (defendant) was charged with forgery of a check and possession of stolen credit cards belonging to the Isaacses. At the preliminary hearing, the Isaacses’ daughter, Anita, denied Roberts’s contention that she had given Roberts her parents’ checkbook and credit cards with the instruction that he could use them. Despite being subpoenaed, Anita did not show up at Roberts’s trial and her mother said Anita was traveling out of state and did not know Anita’s whereabouts. The prosecution sought to introduce into evidence a transcript of Anita’s testimony at the preliminary hearing. Roberts objected to the admission of the transcript on the basis of the Confrontation Clause. The trial court admitted the transcript and convicted Roberts. The Supreme Court of Ohio reversed, holding that admission of the transcript violated the Confrontation Clause. The prosecution appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Blackmun, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.