By a vote of six to two (with Justice Kagan recused), the Court vacated and remanded the decision of the Michigan Supreme Court in Michigan v. Bryant (09-150). In an opinion by Justice Sotomayor, the Court held that a statement given to police by a wounded crime victim identifying the person who shot him is admissible at trial if the victim dies before trial. The Court concluded that because the primary purpose of the interrogation was to enable police to deal with an ongoing emergency, the statements resulting from that interrogation were not testimonial and could be admitted without violating the Confrontation Clause. Justices Scalia and Ginsburg dissented. The ABA Journal reports that Justice Scalia's dissent accuses the Court of having an "active imagination," and complains that the majority has left confrontation clause jurisprudence "in shambles."
As we reported in Michigan Daughter-Father Legal Team Marks a U.S. Supreme Court First , the case was argued by Lori Palmer, an assistant prosecutor for Wayne County, second chaired by her father, chief of the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office appellate division.
