The Supreme Court's Confrontation With Forensic Evidence: Williams v. Illinois

On June 18, 2012, the Supreme Court came down with a fractured 5-4 decision disrupting long-standing 6th Amendment Confrontation Clause precedent as it applies to forensic evidence. Williams v. Illinois, No. 10-8505 (June 18, 2012).

The issue before the Court arose out of a rape prosecution in Chicago. Illinois police recovered the perpetrator's DNA sample from the victim and sent the sample to a private lab in Maryland. When the DNA profile report was returned, Illinois police ran it through their database in Illinois and found a match, Sandy Williams. During Williams' trial, the Maryland lab report was not introduced into evidence and the Maryland laboratory technicians did not testify. Prosecutors, however, presented an expert from the Illinois state lab, who testified that it was her opinion that a DNA profile generated from Williams' sample matched the DNA profile developed by the Maryland lab. Williams was convicted.

Later, Williams claimed that the prosecution's failure to offer the Maryland laboratory technician for him to cross-examine was a violation of his right to confrontation. The Illinois Supreme Court disagreed and upheld his conviction.

The Sixth Amendment Confrontation...