Supreme Court Finds Prosecutors Violated Drug Defendant’s Rights by Switching Expert Witnesses

Changing expert witnesses at trial infringed the man’s right to confront witnesses against him, the Court found.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan stands during a group photograph of the justices at the Supreme Court in Washington, on April 23, 2021. Erin Schaff/AFP via Getty Images

The Supreme Court ruled on June 21 that prosecutors infringed on an Arizona drug defendant’s constitutional right to confront witnesses against him by using the testimony of a substitute expert witness who didn’t actually conduct the drug tests that another expert performed.

The Confrontation Clause in the Sixth Amendment states that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right … to be confronted with the witnesses against him.”