New York Court of Appeals

The People v. Yoselyn Ortega

November 20, 2023

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals held that admitting autopsy reports through an expert who did not perform the autopsies violated Ortega's Sixth Amendment confrontation right, but deemed the error harmless and affirmed the conviction. The Court also rejected the Freycinet framework for determining testimoniality, adopting the Supreme Court’s newer line of cases.