Supreme Court of California

Court of Appeals' reversal of defendant's conviction for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, holding that admission of the nontestifying analyst's laboratory report and colleague's testimony relating some of the report's contents violated defendant's right to confront and cross-examine the report's author is reversed where: 1) because the notation in nontestifying analyst's lab report linking defendant's name to the blood sample was not testimonial in nature, the trial court was correct in a) overruling defendant's objection to that portion of the report, b) permitting the prosecution to introduce that portion of the report into evidence, and c) permitting the colleague to testify regarding it; and 2) to the extent that any other notations on the report could be considered testimonial, their admission was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/15/2012
• Published 10/15/2012

Judges

• Kennard

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel