State v. Passino

Defendant Arthur Passino appeals his conviction for involuntary manslaughter. He alleges that the trial court denied him his constitutional right to present evidence and confront witnesses against him. We agree and reverse.

On the evening of January 20, 1990, Shirley LeClerc was found dead in a vacant apartment, across the hall from the apartment she shared with her husband in Enosburg. She had been severely beaten and strangled, and evidence indicated that the victim had engaged in sex before her death. Soon after her husband, Urbain LeClerc, found the body, defendant was discovered in an…