Dearing v. Commonwealth

The primary issues in this appeal are whether a circuit court violated a criminal defendant’s federal constitutional right to confrontation by admitting in evidence a co-defendant’s confession and, if so, whether such error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

I

Alfred Lovell Dearing, Jr., was indicted by a grand jury in Alexandria for the robbery of Andre Moore and use of a firearm during the commission of a robbery. He was tried jointly with Leroy Vemoise Dorsey, a co-defendant who participated in the robbery. At the conclusion of a bench trial, the Circuit Court of the City of Alexandria…