People v. Lopez

The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment affords an accused a constitutional right to present witnesses in his own defense. Substantial government interference with a defense witness’s choice to testify violates this right.

Here, the interference involved a prosecution witness, Dennis Hoskins. Minutes after Hoskins agreed to testify at defendant Devaun Lopez’s trial, the prosecutor threatened Hoskins that deviation from his preliminary-examination testimony would result in prosecution for perjury and life imprisonment on conviction. Hoskins subsequently invoked his Fifth *707Amendment…