Document Type
Supreme Court Commentaries
Publication Date
11-12-2007
Keywords
General
Subject Category
Constitutional Law | Law
Abstract
In Whorton v. Bockting, the Supreme Court considered whether its rule from Crawford v. Washington, prohibiting the admission of testimonial hearsay statements without a prior opportunity for the defendant to cross-examine the declarant, should be applied retroactively to cases on collateral appeal under the standard set forth in Teague v. Lane. The determination rested on whether Crawford announced a "new rule" that should be applied retroactively by virtue of its being a "watershed rule of criminal procedure implicating the fundamental fairness and accuracy of the criminal proceeding." In a unanimous decision, the Court held that Crawford did announce a "new rule" of criminal procedure, but that "this rule does not fall within the Teague exception for watershed rules." Therefore, the respondent could not benefit from the Crawford rule in collateral review of his original state court conviction.
Recommended Citation
Tadhg Dooley, Whorton v. Bockting and the Watershed Exception of Teague v. Lane, 3 Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar 1-12 (2007)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/djclpp_sidebar/22