Crawford Isn’t Violated by Expert Testimony Based on Inadmissible Testimonial Statement

An expert witness does not violate the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause by testifying to an opinion that is based on inadmissible hearsay that would not itself be admissible under Crawford v. Washington,
541 U.S. 36 (2004), the New Hampshire Supreme Court held May 14 (State v. McLeod, N.H., No. 2011-809).

The court viewed the issue as one of the questions left unanswered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 4-1-4 split decision in Williams v. Illinois, 80 U.S.L.W. 4434 (U.S. 2012).

The case involved the admissibility of experts’ testimony in a fatal arson case about the cause of a ...