Gilbert v. State

OPINION

BAKER, Judge.

Today we address some basic principles of fundamental due process, namely, a criminal defendant’s right to confront witnesses against her, its interrelationship with hearsay evidence, and the State’s burden to prove its ease beyond a reasonable doubt. More particularly, the State argues that the introduction of hearsay testimony through a police officer was harmless error, inasmuch as the appellant-defendant, Starlett Gilbert, could have called the declarant, who was also a police officer and present at trial, to challenge the hearsay statements that were erroneously…