Del Carmen Hernandez v. State

The trial court admitted into evidence a co-defendant’s testimonial statement for the purpose of impeaching another out-of-court statement of that co-defendant. We hold that this did not violate the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment under Crawford v. Washington. 1

Facts and Procedural History

The appellant was convicted in September 2005 of capital murder committed in the course of a kidnapping. 2 Punishment was fixed at life in prison. 3 The Fourth Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. 4

The appellant met her co-defendants, Cassandra Leffew and Dolores Rodriguez, at the Bexar…