Velasquez argues his right to be confronted with witnesses against him was violated. The right to confront witnesses is of constitutional magnitude. U.S. Const. amend. See also N.D.R.Ev. It includes not only being allowed to confront the witnesses physically, but to cross-examine the witnesses as well.
Defense counsel is given wide latitude to cross-examine prosecution witnesses.
The concerns embodied in this right are satisfied so long as the defendant has the opportunity to expose weaknesses in the witness' testimony. We review a claimed violation of a constitutional right de novo. Counsel was allowed to thoroughly question Gonzalez in regard to his previous drug charges and plea bargain, in order to establish a link between Gonzalez's testimony and the plea bargain. Counsel elicited from Gonzalez he had been a drug dealer in the past, he was charged with four drug felonies, and some of the drugs the police found were for his own personal use. Counsel questioned Gonzalez regarding the reduction of charges for his parents, as well as a DUI Gonzalez had been arrested for.