A Content Analysis of Domestic Violence Cases Applying the Confrontation Clause Following Crawford v. Washington Between 2004 and 2023

• In Event: A Collection of Systematic Content Analyses of Constitutional Criminal Procedure Issues

Abstract

Following the decision made in Crawford v. Washington (2004) the ways in which the Confrontation Clause is used in criminal cases has changed. The goal of this paper is to understand how this decision influenced the use of the Confrontation Clause specifically in domestic violence cases. Utilizing a legal source database, a content analysis of legal cases was completed revealing several key preliminary findings regarding the use of the Confrontation Clause and the likeness of it being upheld in domestic violence cases. In fact, so far the majority of cases examined utilized the Confrontation Clause to justify why the statements made by witnesses stand due to their nontestimonial nature. While Crawford v. Washington (2004) set the precedent for excluding out-of-court statements when they were testimonial in nature, the data demonstrates that judges often use it instead to limit a defendant's right to confront by arguing the nontestimonial nature of witness statements.

Author

• Teairstayn Jones, Arizona State University