One of the most important rights of the constitution is the right to require witnesses to come to court and take an oath. The Michigan Court of Appeals just protected that right in an important case called People v Buiie (see link for the full text of the opinion). The case is important because the Court of Appeals held that a trial court cannot allow a prosecutor to call a witness to testify via 2-way video conference without meeting a very important 2-prong test. "The 2-prong test means that the government must first show that the government is advancing a public interest that outweighs the accused citizen's right to confrontation in bringing the witnesses to trial remotely," said Michigan-criminal-law expert and attorney Mike Nichols. Nichols added "the second finding is that the method of bringing the witness in to testify remotely preserves all other facets of the right of confrontation."
The Court cited a long-standing Supreme Court case called Maryland v Craig. In that case, the state interest was protecting a child who suffered trauma as the result of sexual abuse. The court allowed the child to testify remotely to avoid further trauma. Said Nichols: "a situation like that is the bar to climb over in order to show a state interest that is important enough to outweigh the right of each and every one of us to confront the witnesses in court." Do not retain a lawyer to represent you in a criminal case unless the lawyer understands all of your constitutional protections and is prepared to stand up for them ... and for you.
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