Crawford, Retroactivity, and the Importance of Being Earnest

Authors

J. Thomas Sullivan, University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of LawFollow

Publication Date

2008

Abstract

In this article Professor Sullivan examines the Supreme Court's evolving Confrontation Clause jurisprudence through its dramatic return to pre-Sixth Amendment appreciation of the role of cross-examination in the criminal trial reflected in its 2004 decision in Crawford v. Washington. He discusses the past quarter century of the Court's confrontation decisions and their impact on his client, Ralph Rodney Earnest, recounting the defendant's conviction and twenty-four-year litigation journey through state and federal courts to his eventual release from prison in the only successful attempt to use Crawford retroactively known to date.

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

J. Thomas Sullivan, Crawford, Retroactivity, and the Importance of Being Earnest, 92 Marq. L. Rev. 231 (2008).