Court backs the chutzpah defense

LA Times:

The Supreme Court dealt a setback to prosecutors in domestic violence cases today, ruling that a murder victim's earlier reports to the police may not be used against the accused killer at his trial unless it can be shown he intended to silence her as a witness.

The justices in a 6-3 decision overturned the murder conviction of a Los Angeles man who shot and killed his girlfriend. He said he acted in self-defense, but he was convicted after the jury heard a police officer's report that the girlfriend said he had threatened to kill her.

In today's decision, Justice Antonin Scalia said the use of that police report violated the accused killer's right to "confront" his accusers in court.

The California Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction of Dwayne Giles and said the defendant did not have a right to profit from his wrongdoing. By killing the victim, she was unable to testify against him, the state court said.

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I think it could be argued that he had already confronted the witness and chose to silence her. Justice Scalia said, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to be confronted with the witnesses against him." This is a case where the liberals were for upholding the California court--go figure.