Commonwealth v. Hartfield

Gants, C J.

The primary issue on appeal is whether the admission in evidence at a probation violation hearing of hearsay statements of an alleged victim regarding a new criminal offense bars the probationer from calling the alleged victim to testify. We conclude that it does not. Because the judge erred in concluding that it was inherently inconsistent to allow the alleged victim to be called to testify by the probationer after her hearsay statements were admitted in evidence when offered by the probation department, and because the error was constitutional in nature and not harmless beyond a…