Opinion ID: 2368807
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Rights of Confrontation and Cross-Examination

Text: With regard to the specific procedural protections of confrontation and cross-examination, which Judge Bowers ruled were constitutionally required and which Judge Norman imposed in part, we hold that the government may proceed by the use of proffer and hearsay, subject to the discretion of the judge as to the nature of the proffer and the need for admissible evidence. The rights of confrontation and cross-examination together generally prohibit the use of hearsay statements unless they fall within a recognized exception, [40] or unless they are supported by other indicia of reliability, [41] although the right of confrontation is not co-extensive with the evidentiary rules of hearsay. See Dutton v. Evans, 400 U.S. 74, 81-82, 91 S.Ct. 210, 215-216, 27 L.Ed.2d 213 (1970); California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 155-56, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 1933-34, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970); Harrison v. United States, D.C.App., 407 A.2d 683, 686 (1979). Judge Bowers apparently relied on these constitutionally-mandated trial rights in ruling that all hearsay must be excluded. We disagree, finding that, as in a preliminary hearing for probable cause, the government may proceed by proffer or hearsay. See Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. at 121-22, 95 S.Ct. at 866-67; Blunt v. United States, 322 A.2d at 583 n.4 (Given the unique nature of [pretrial detention] proceedings, a full trial of the general issue would be impracticable, and evidence by proffer is constitutionally sufficient.) The liberty interest at stake and the function of the two proceedings are so similar as to provide no basis for distinguishing them. [42] The related trial right of compulsory process, as provided by the Sixth Amendment, guarantees that the defendant may compel the attendance of witnesses in his favor. In the trial context, the defendant need not proffer how the requested witness will testify in his favor; the defendant only carries the burden of identifying and securing the attendance of those witnesses whose testimony he desires. See Westen, supra note 39, at 601-13. In neither of the two pretrial detention hearings appealed here was the complainant produced. The government relied on information and statements other than statements by the complainant. Holding, as we do, that the government may proceed by proffer or otherwise, we conclude that there is no reason to distinguish the complainant from other possible witnesses to an offense, and that the government may proffer a complainant's hearsay statements as in a probable cause preliminary examination. Consistent with this holding, we further conclude that the court may require a proffer from the defense before compelling the presence of an adverse witness. The pretrial detention statute provides the accused with a right to present witnesses in his favor. Such an opportunity to respond is a fundamental procedural right which the government has no interest in restricting. Nevertheless, with regard to the government's witnesses, and particularly the complaining witness, the government does have an interest in preventing premature discovery. It also has an interest in protecting the emotional and physical well-being of its witnesses. See Washington v. Clemmer, 119 U.S.App.D.C. 216, 219 n.11, 339 F.2d 715, 718 n.11 (1964). Under our holding that the government may proceed by proffer or hearsay, cross-examination for the limited purpose of impeaching the witness' credibility is an insufficient reason to compel a witness' presence. The requirement of a preliminary proffer, regarding the manner in which a witness' testimony will tend to negate substantial probability that the accused committed the charged offense, is a reasonable limitation on the accused's right to call witnesses in his favor. Blunt v. United States, supra , was relied upon by Judge Bowers and is cited by appellant as authority for an unconditional right to call adverse witnesses. In Blunt, the defendant argued that he was denied the constitutional right to cross-examine the witnesses who alleged he had threatened them. We noted that [a] defendant has the right under the statute and under the case law to subpoena witnesses to appear in his behalf, id. 322 A.2d at 585 (emphasis added) (citing D.C.Code 1973, ง 23-1322(c)(4); Greenwell v. United States, 115 U.S.App.D.C. 44, 317 F.2d 108 (1963)), but held that the defendant had waived his right to cross-examine the government's witnesses when he neither availed himself of his right to call the witnesses nor asked the court for a continuance in order to secure their presence, id. 322 A.2d at 586. We had no occasion in Blunt to determine whether the accused's right to call witnesses in his favor may be conditioned upon a proffer showing how the testimony will negate substantial probability when the witness' testimony presumably will be adverse to the accused. See In re R.D.S., D.C.App., 359 A.2d 136, 139 (1976) (respondent's right in a probable cause hearing to introduce evidence on his own behalf does not connote the right to determine in effect who the government's witnesses shall be, and in order to compel the complainant's testimony, respondent must proffer how the evidence would negate probable cause).