Judge Jones of the W.D. Va. declined for now to rule that the hearsay evidence made inadmissible by the Supreme Court's latest Confrontation Clause opinion has tainted the trial that has been going on for several weeks in Abingdon, as reported here ("No mistrial in Pocahontas triple slaying case," 3/12/04) in the Bristol paper and here ("No mistrial in triple slayings," 3/12/04) in the Roanoke paper.
I had expected that the judge would rule the other way, but then again, he's sitting through this case for the second time, and the prospect of scrapping all the work that has gone into the current trial might be viewed as a colossal waste if there is some way to salvage the proceedings without denying the rights of the defendants. I'm not sure that I understand what the Court is going to do to make sure the bad evidence is not or was not considered.
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