United States v. Brito

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

In Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), the Supreme Court barred the admission of testimonial hearsay in a criminal case under circumstances in which the accused has not had an opportunity to cross-examine the declarant. This ruling effected a sea change in the jurisprudence of the Confrontation Clause—but the Court left open the parameters of testimonial hearsay, and so its ruling produced a miasma of uncertainty. We enter this murky milieu to answer a question of first impression in this circuit: under what circumstances should an…