Court Opinion

ID: 9481761
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:31:08.034143+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:33.792419
License: Public Domain

*331RIPPLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
The confrontation clause issue raised by the defendants is a difficult one. A review of the record convinces me that defense counsel’s objection was adequate to place the trial court and counsel for the government on notice with respect to the sixth amendment implications of the testimonial situation before the court. Therefore, I cannot join my brother’s suggestion that the issue was “waived.” Nevertheless, the defendants had available “comparable means,” Smith v. Fairman, 862 F.2d 630, 638 (7th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1008, 109 S.Ct. 1645, 104 L.Ed.2d 160 (1989), to undermine the credibility of Willis. On that basis, I must conclude that there was no violation of the confrontation clause. See Nance v. Fairman, 707 F.2d 936, 942 & n. 7 (7th Cir.1983). See also United States v. Dempewolf, 817 F.2d 1318, 1321 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 903, 108 S.Ct. 245, 98 L.Ed.2d 203 (1987).