Opinion ID: 2521563
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Confrontation ClausePurposes and History

Text: A defendant's right to confront the witnesses against him is guaranteed by both the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and article II, section 16 of the Colorado Constitution. [2] Even without our state provision guaranteeing this right, the United States Supreme Court has held that this bedrock procedural guarantee applies to both federal and state prosecutions through the Fourteenth Amendment. Crawford v. Washington, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 1359, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (citing Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400, 406, 85 S.Ct. 1065, 13 L.Ed.2d 923 (1965)). The history behind the Confrontation Clause is discussed extensively in Crawford, ___ U.S. ___, ___ - ___, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 1359-64, 158 L.Ed.2d 177. Although we do not discuss it at length here, we review the Clause's history briefly to illustrate the importance of the right to confrontation in our system of law. The concept that an accused has the right to confront the witnesses against him dates back to Roman times, but was incorporated into English law in the 1600s. Crawford, ___ U.S. ___, ___ - ___, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 1359-61, 158 L.Ed.2d 177. English courts developed the right, allowing out-of-court testimony only if the witness was unable to testify in person. Id. at 1360-61. English courts further developed the common law to require that statements made before trial were admissible only if the accused had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the witness. Id. Although several state constitutions included a right of confrontation, the United States Constitution did not originally include that right. Id. at 1362. Following criticism regarding the omission, the First Congress included the right in the Sixth Amendment. Id. The People of Colorado included a right to confrontation of witnesses against an accused in Colorado's original constitution and it has remained unchanged since that time. See Colo. Const. art. II, § 16. The purposes behind both the federal and state Confrontation Clauses are well articulated. We have stated that the Confrontation Clause is designed to ensure that convictions are not obtained through the use of ex parte affidavits. People v. Bastardo, 191 Colo. 521, 524, 554 P.2d 297, 300 (1976); see also Crawford, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 1363-64, 158 L.Ed.2d 177. We have recognized that testimony is much more reliable when it is given under oath at trial where the witness can be cross-examined and the jury may observe the witness's demeanor. People v. Dement, 661 P.2d 675, 680 (Colo.1983). Thus, although by necessity exceptions to the right of confrontation must exist, we have continually maintained the importance of that right. Accordingly, we must protect the most obvious manifestation of that right-the opportunity for cross-examination. See Pointer, 380 U.S. at 406-07, 85 S.Ct. 1065. In sum, the right of an accused to confront the witnesses against him has been regarded as a fundamental right for hundreds of years. It was included in both the United States and Colorado Constitutions to insure that persons would not be convicted on the basis of ex parte testimony and without the benefit of cross-examination. This right remains crucial to our adversarial system of law.