United States Seventh Circuit
Cross v. Hardy, 09-1666
Defendant's petition for habeas relief from his conviction for sexual assault on retrial, challenging the trial court's finding that the complainant was unavailable and thus permitted the admission of her testimony from the first trial during the second trial, is granted and the conviction reversed and remanded where: 1) under the circumstances of this case, where the complainant's testimony was critical and the state neglected to subpoena her despite knowing that she was extremely reluctant to testify, the state did not sufficiently demonstrate that it acted in good faith; and 2) the state's duplicative efforts and its failure to more thoroughly investigate were also insufficient to protect defendant's Sixth Amendment rights.
Appellate Information
- Argued 11/30/2009
- Decided 01/13/2011
- Published 01/13/2011
Judges
Court
- United States Seventh Circuit