McClellan v. United States

I join Judge Belson’s opinion for the court. The confrontation issue is a close one. .In the case of a key government witness like Smith, claimed to have proven his bias against McClellan by shooting at him a week before the -alleged murder, barring cross-examination of Smith about that act raises serious Sixth Amendment concerns. Even if the jurors no more than eyeballed Smith and listened to his voice as he admitted, denied, or equivocated about the shooting, this might have contributed to their sense that he was an unreliable accuser of McClellan.1 Nevertheless, as Judge Belson…