Nicholas P. Manocchio v. John Moran, Director, Department of Corrections

LEVIN H. CAMPBELL, Circuit Judge.

This appeal presents the question of whether, in a state criminal trial in which the accused is charged with murder and its lesser included offenses, the introduction into evidence of an autopsy report for the purpose of proving the cause of death, without the personal presence of the medical examiner who prepared and executed the report, violates the Confrontation Clause of the federal Constitution. Contrary to the district court, we hold that use of this report did not violate the Constitution.

The State of Rhode Island appeals from the judgment of the United…