United States v. Sasso
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
59 F.3d 341 (1995)
- Written by Kyli Cotten, JD
Facts
Robert Sasso and Anthony Armienti (defendants) were charged with various crimes relating to the illegal possession of firearms. At trial, Armienti’s former girlfriend, Kristine Kramer, testified for the government (plaintiff). At a motion in limine hearing, defense counsel revealed that it sought approval to question Kramer about seeing a psychiatrist and taking prescribed mood stabilizers. Kramer had previously been involved in an unrelated car accident in which the other driver was fatally injured. Subsequently, Kramer saw a psychiatrist for her resulting depression and was prescribed mood stabilizers. The trial court barred all mention of Kramer’s psychiatric history, ruling that it was not relevant to the case. Sasso and Armienti were convicted at trial. On appeal, Sasso and Armienti argued that not being allowed to pursue this line of questioning violated their Sixth Amendment rights to confront an adverse witness.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Kearse, J.)
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