Hemphill v. New York

Summary

The Supreme Court held that admitting the transcript of an unavailable witness’s plea allocution violated the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause, that New York’s “opening the door” rule is a substantive evidentiary principle not an exception to the Clause, that the rule cannot justify admission of testimonial hearsay, and that Hemphill properly presented his federal claim to the state courts, reversing and remanding the judgment.