Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-637_10n2.pdf
Page Number: 8

Cite as:  595 U. S. ____ (2022) 

5 

Opinion of the Court 

presented by the defense in this case . . . .  In my judg-
ment, the defense’s argument, which in all respects is
appropriate  and  under  the  circumstances  of  this  case 
probably a necessary argument to make, nonetheless,
opens the door to evidence offered by the [S]tate refut-
ing  the  claim  that  Morris  was,  in  fact,  the  shooter.”
App. 184, 185. 

Based  on  this  ruling,  the  State  published  to  the  jury  the 
portions of the transcript of Morris’ plea hearing containing 
Morris’  admission  to  possessing  a  .357  revolver  and  his 
counsel’s statements that he was doing so against counsel’s
advice, without corroborating evidence, in order to get out 
of jail immediately.

Hemphill premised his closing argument, like the rest of
his defense, on the theory that Morris was the shooter.  The 
State,  in  its  closing,  cited  Morris’  plea  allocution  and  em-
phasized that possession of a .357 revolver, not murder, was 
“the crime [Morris] actually committed.”  Id., at 356.  After 
deliberations  spanning  multiple  days,  the  jury  found 
Hemphill guilty, and the court sentenced him to 25 years to
life in prison. 

C 
Hemphill appealed.  Before the Appellate Division, he ar-
gued, citing the State and Federal Constitutions, that “[t]he
court denied Mr. Hemphill his right to confront the witness
against him where it admitted Nicholas Morris’s guilty plea 
statements . . . because the defense had opened the door to 
this  evidence  even  though  counsel  had  scrupulously  fol-
lowed the court’s in limine rulings.”  Supp. App. to Brief in 
Opposition  SA107.  He  added,  “the  prosecution’s  conduct
here  represented  the  type  of  overreach  the  Confrontation
Clause was enacted to prevent: the production of evidence 
procured by the government without affording the accused
the opportunity to question its reliability through cross-ex-
amination.”  Id., at SA111.