Video of a dying man blinking at a photo of his alleged killer is admissible evidence at trial, even though the victim cannot be cross-examined and he lived for another two years, Maryland's top court held Friday.
A unanimous Court of Appeals held Mevlin Pate's identification of Jermaine Hailes was a "dying declaration," meaning Hailes does not have a Sixth Amendment right of confronting his accuser in Prince George's County Circuit Court.
"Here, we reach the same conclusion that the Supreme Court has consistently endorsed for more than a century, and hold that the Confrontation Clause does not apply to dying declarations," Judge Shirley M. Watts wrote in affirming the Court of Special Appeals.
Tagged with: angela alsobrooks crime evidence prince george's county circuit court trial
Read More »