State of Connecticut v. Eugene L. Walker

Summary

The court held that admitting a postarrest DNA profile through an analyst who neither performed nor observed the buccal-swab analysis violated the defendant's Sixth Amendment confrontation right. The profile was testimonial hearsay because it was generated for use in the defendant's prosecution, and the testifying analyst relayed and vouched for the absent analysts' findings rather than offering an independently derived opinion. Because the state did not claim harmlessness beyond a reasonable doubt, the court ordered a new trial on the affected convictions.