Chambers v. Mississippi
| Chambers v. Mississippi | |
|---|---|
| Argued November 15, 1972 Decided February 21, 1973 | |
| Full case name | Leon Chambers v. State of Mississippi |
| Docket no. | 71-5908 |
| Citations | 410 U.S. 284 (more) 93 S. Ct. 1038. 35 L. Ed. 2d 297 |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Chambers v. State, 252 So. 2d 217 (Miss. 1971) (per curiam); bail granted, 405 U.S. 1205 (1972); cert. granted, 405 U.S. 987 (1972). |
| Holding | |
| A state may not enforce its rules of evidence in a criminal trial so as to disallow the defendant the right to present reliable exculpatory evidence and thereby deny the defendant a fair trial. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Powell, joined by Burger, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, Blackmun |
| Concurrence | White |
| Dissent | Rehnquist |
| Laws applied | |
| Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | |
Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284 (1973), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a state may not enforce its rules of evidence, such as rules excluding hearsay, in a fashion that disallows a criminal defendant from presenting reliable exculpatory evidence and thus denies the defendant a fair trial.