Abstract

Defendants have used the Confrontation Clause to challenge convictions for many years. Historically, Confrontation Clause arguments centered around the defendant's ability to cross-examine the witnesses against him. With the advent of closed circuit television and videotape equipment, however, the courts face a new Confrontation Clause issue. The courts must now apply the two-hundred year old Confrontation Clause in light of modem technology. This Note addresses the broad issue whether the Confrontation Clause requires strict, face-to-face confrontation between defendants and child witnesses under all circumstances.

Confrontation Clause issues arise when courts employ alternative means of procuring testimony from child witnesses. The basic question is whether defendants have an absolute right to physically confront all adverse witnesses and if that right is not absolute, under what circumstances may it yield to other considerations?

Most cases and scholarly writings that address alternative means for procuring testimony involve victims of child abuse. This Note, however, discusses both child witnesses who were abused and those who were not. The controlling Arizona statute provides an opportunity to protect a broad spectrum of children from the rigors of face-to-face encounters with defendants. This Note, therefore, does not distinguish between victim and non-victim child witnesses.

Section One provides a brief review of Confrontation Clause rights generally. Section Two discusses recent United States Supreme Court and Arizona Supreme Court decisions which lay a foundation concerning alternative means of procuring child witnesses testimony. Section Three analyzes the current state of Arizona law. Section Four discusses the Supreme Court's answers to some of the questions raised in Section Two.

The United States Constitution guarantees the right to confront one's accusers and necessarily involves jurisdictions other than Arizona. This Note, however, primarily examines Arizona law, focusing on Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) sections 13-4251 and 13-4253.

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