Opinion ID: 1657407
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Bernard's Videotaped Statement

Text: Finally, Blanche contends that admission of the edited videotape of Bernard's statement violated his Confrontation Clause rights. We agree that the type of redaction used on the videotape offends the concerns raised in Bruton. Erasing Blanche's name did not eliminate all reference to him. As evidenced by its question to the district court, the jury noticed the redaction and correctly inferred that the erasure was Blanche's name. Nevertheless, we do not conclude that Blanche's Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause rights were violated by admission of the videotape because, while Bruton's protections apply more broadly than just formal confessions, they nevertheless require that the statement be a confession that is prejudicial to the defendant. See Bruton, 391 U.S. at 137, 88 S.Ct. 1620. Bernard's statement on the video was not a confession even in the broadest sense. Although the videotape erasure appeared to name Blanche, it only placed him in the same automobile with Bernard around noon on June 2, 1996  six hours before the shooting. Therefore, we conclude that, without other evidence, Bernard's statement on the videotape alone does not implicate Blanche. However, we strongly caution against the kind of editing that occurred here, and express our concern that the edit drew more attention to Blanche than would have been drawn if Blanche's name had simply remained in Bernard's statement.