Trial Proceeding
At trial, Mrs. Crawford could not be compelled to testify by the state, since under Washington's spousal privilege law, a spouse cannot testify in court without the defendant spouse's consent (except when a spouse is a complainant).
The deputy prosecutor, Robert Lund, sought to introduce Mrs. Crawford's statement to the police as evidence that Mr. Crawford had no reasonable belief that he was in danger from Mr. Lee. Generally, out-of-court statements by persons other than the accused are excluded as hearsay. Here the court allowed the statement to be admitted on the basis that the statement was reliable, as it was partially corroborated by Mr. Crawford's statement to police.
Defense counsel objected to the admission of the wife's statement, on the ground that Mr. Crawford would be unable to confront (i.e. cross-examine) Mrs. Crawford on her statement without waiving spousal privilege, and that this would be a violation of the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment.
The statement was allowed into evidence at the trial, and the prosecution relied on it heavily in its closing argument.
Read more about this topic: Crawford V. Washington
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