Davis v. Alaska
- Decided
- February 27, 1974
- Docket
- 72-5794
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 5,953 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that denial of effective cross-examination is “constitutional error of the first magnitude and no amount of showing of want of prejudice would cure it” — Hale v. State (2004)
- holding that precluding a defendant from cross-examining a key prosecution witness to show bias violated the defendant’s constitutional right to confront the witness testifying against him — United States v. Noah Beverly Johnny P. Crockett Douglas A. Turns (2004)
- recognizing that an important state interest can sometimes trump the right to an unfettered cross-examination — Robert Wilkerson v. Burl Cain, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary (2000)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Mr. Chief Justice Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.
We granted certiorari in this case to consider whether the Confrontation Clause requires that a defendant in a criminal case be allowed to impeach the credibility of a prosecution witness by cross-examination directed at possible bias deriving from the witness’ probationary status as a juvenile delinquent when such an impeachment would conflict with a State’s asserted interest in preserving the confidentiality of juvenile adjudications of delinquency.
(1) When the Polar Bar in Anchorage closed in the early morning hours of February 16, 1970, well over a thousand dollars in cash and checks was in the bar’s Mosler safe. About midday, February 16, it was discovered that the bar had been broken into and the safe, about two feet square and weighing several hundred pounds, had been removed from the premises.
Cite this
Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308 (1974)Read the full opinion
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