State v. Vincent

FIDEL, Judge.

Gerald Dean Vincent was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to life imprisonment without release for twenty-five years. The murder victim was his estranged wife.

We reverse because we conclude that Vincent’s state and federal constitutional right to confront adverse witnesses was violated by the state’s videotaped presentation of the testimony of his minor children.

The United States Supreme Court has recently addressed the constitutional validity of statutory efforts to shield child witnesses from the confrontational rigors of courtroom testimony. Coy v. Iowa, —…