2012 Pa. Super. 34 - Commonwealth v. Yohe’s Empirical Analysis
2012
Citation profile
8
cited by 8 later decisions
3
states following
August 2019
most recently cited
8 state decisions
Relationships
Relies on Crawford v. Washington · Pointer v. Texas · Davis v. Washington · Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts · Freeman v. United States
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“it is clear that Dr. Blum did not handle [the defendant’s] blood sample, prepare portions for testing, place the prepared portions in the testing machines, or retrieve the portions after testing. However, it is equally clear that Dr. Blum did review the entire file, compare the results of the three independent test printouts on the three aliquots, certify the accuracy of the results, and sign the report. Accordingly, Dr. Blum is the analyst who prepared the certificate in anticipation for use at [the defendant’s] trial. We concede that Dr. Blum is in a similar position as the testifying witnesses in Barton-Martin and Bullcom-ing in that he did not personally handle the defendant’s blood sample, prepare the aliquots, or physically place the aliquots in the testing apparatuses. However, unlike the testifying witnesses in Barton-Martin and Bullcoming, Dr. Blum did certify the results of the testing and author the report sought to be admitted as evidence against [defendant]. We conclude this distinction is dispositive of the issue presented. As declared in Bullcoming , it is the certification and the written report that constitute the “testimonial statement” triggering the Sixth Amendment right of confrontation. Bullcoming, supra at 2713-2715 . [The defendant] is not limited in his cross-examination of Dr. Blum as suggested by the trial court simply because there may be questions he cannot answer due to the fact he did not perform a specific task in the course of processing [defe”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent“[i]n Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 , 124 S.Ct. 1354 , 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), the United States Supreme Court held that the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment prohibits the use of testimonial hearsay obtained by police officers against a criminal defendant, even if such hearsay is reliable, unless the defendant has the opportunity to cross-examine the unavailable declarant. Id. at 54 , 124 S.Ct. 1354 . Later, in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. 305 , 129 S.Ct. 2527 , 174 L.Ed.2d 314 (2009), the United States Supreme Court addressed the “class of testimonial statements covered by the Confrontation Clause” delineated in Crawford. Id. at 2531. Such testimonial statements included “extrajudicial statements ... contained in formalized testimonial materials, such as affidavits [ ... ] that were made under circumstances which would lead an objective witness reasonably to believe that the statement would be available for use at a later trial.” Id., quoting Crawford, supra at 52, 124 S.Ct. 1354 In Melendez-Diaz , the defendant objected to the admission of certificates of analysis, describing results of forensic testing that determined certain seized substances to be cocaine. Id. [The defendant] maintained he had a constitutional right to confront the analysts, who should have been required to testify in person. Id. The Supreme Court determined that the certificates of analysis were affidavits made under circumstances leading a reasonable person to believe they w”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“the trial court erred as a matter of law when it determined that the blood-alcohol report of the blood sample taken from [the driver] was inadmissible on the ground that [he] was not afforded his right to confront the source of the testimonial statement through the testimony and cross-examination of [the individual who actually performed the blood testing],”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.