Opinion ID: 320436
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Confrontation Clause-- Significance of Unavailability

Text: 60 California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 165, 168, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 26 L.Ed. 489 (1970) demonstrates conclusively that the confrontation rights of appellant here were not violated. 4 In Green, a witness' prior testimony was admitted against a constitutional challenge even though that witness was present and testified at trial. The Green Court fully discussed the important elements of the right of confrontation and it is clear that each of those elements, as authoritatively established by Green, was satisfied in this case. Miss Brown testified under oath before a magistrate with the defendant present. Defendant's counsel had an unrestricted opportunity to cross-examine her and in fact fully exercised that right to the extent that her cross-examination comprised 28 1/2 out of 33 pages of the transcript of Miss Borwn's testimony. 5 61 Moreover, in Green the witness actually was produced and testified at trial. The significance of this fact is simply to demonstrate the obvious, that is, that the 'availability' of a witness has no relation to the inherent trustworthiness of his prior testimony. Rather, availability, viewed in this perspective, simply goes to the nature, diligence and good faith of the Government's search. If these are established then manifestly the prior testimony is admissible under Green. A diligent, reasonable and good faith search by the Government would negate any inference of collusion between it and the witness or that the Government was aware that the witness might change stories; no one even contends that collusion is involved here. The facts of this case demonstrably prove that the Government did in fact make just such an extensive and good faith search for Miss Brown. The law does not and should not require anything more. In this connection it is submitted that a fair reading of the description of the search as set forth in the majority opinion will prove that the Government met the required standard.