Pointer v. Texas
| Pointer v. Texas | |
|---|---|
| Argued 15 March, 1965 Decided 5 April, 1965 | |
| Full case name | Pointer v. Texas |
| Citations | 380 U.S. 400 (more) 85 S. Ct. 1065; 13 L. Ed. 2d 923 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Pointer v. State, 375 S.W.2d 293 (Tex. Crim. App. 1963) |
| Holding | |
| Right to confront and cross-examine witnesses is fundamental under the Sixth Amendment and applies to state courts under the Fourteenth Amendment. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Black, joined by Warren, Douglas, Clark, Brennan, White, Goldberg |
| Concurrence | Harlan (in result) |
| Concurrence | Stewart (in result) |
| Concurrence | Goldberg |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amends. VI, XIV | |
Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400 (1965), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court involving the application of the right of to confront accusers in state court proceedings. The Sixth Amendment in the Bill of Rights states that, in criminal prosecutions, the defendant has a right "...to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor..." In this case, a person arrested in Texas for robbery was deprived of the ability to cross-examine a witness when the lower court allowed the introduction of a transcript of that witness's earlier testimony at a preliminary proceeding instead of compelling attendance by the witness at trial.