People v. Johnson

MOSK. J.

This appeal from a judgment of conviction of incest (Pen. Code. § 285) presents the important question whether section 1235 of the new Evidence Code, making prior inconsistent statements of a witness admissible for the truth of the matters therein asserted, violates the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of the right of confrontation when introduced against a defendant in a criminal prosecution. We conclude that the statute cannot constitutionally be so applied, and that it was prejudicial error to do so in the case at bar.

The chronology of events is as follows: On February 7, 1964,…