OK, this story is completely off the rails and we’re barely past week two. Explaining hearsay rules and the Confrontation Clause would take forever, and half the readers would die of boredom, Bottom line: The only way past “sworn testimony” could be introduced in a murder case is if this were a second trial on the same charges, the testimony came from the first trial, and the testifying witness is unavailable. It sounds like that’s exactly what’s happening here, and there’d be no reason for prosecutors not to introduce the original testimony.
But if there’s something else going on and the witness needs to be found, dead or alive, why wouldn’t Tracy just say that to Warbucks? Why don’t the prosecutors ask him directly?
And which old lady hanging around the strip is eventually going to turn out to be Trixie? Haf-and-Haf’s long-forgotten “fiancee”?
OK, this story is completely off the rails and we’re barely past week two. Explaining hearsay rules and the Confrontation Clause would take forever, and half the readers would die of boredom, Bottom line: The only way past “sworn testimony” could be introduced in a murder case is if this were a second trial on the same charges, the testimony came from the first trial, and the testifying witness is unavailable. It sounds like that’s exactly what’s happening here, and there’d be no reason for prosecutors not to introduce the original testimony.
But if there’s something else going on and the witness needs to be found, dead or alive, why wouldn’t Tracy just say that to Warbucks? Why don’t the prosecutors ask him directly?
And which old lady hanging around the strip is eventually going to turn out to be Trixie? Haf-and-Haf’s long-forgotten “fiancee”?