Although recent confrontation clause litigation has focused on the new Crawford rule, the Bruton rule continues to create issues in joint trials of codefendants. In this post I’ll give you a primer on Bruton. In a follow-up post I’ll discuss Crawford’s implications on the Bruton rule. The Rule. Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968), held that a defendant's confrontation clause rights are violated when a non-testifying codefendant's confession naming the defendant as a participant in the crime is introduced at their joint trial, even if the jury is instructed to consider the confession only against the defendant. See also Richardson v. Marsh, 481 U.S. 200, 201-02 (1987) (so stating the rule); State v. Brewington, 352 N.C. 489, 507 (2000) (same). Later cases modified Bruton and held that the confrontation clause is not violated by the admission of a non-testifying codefendant’s confession if: a proper limiting instruction is given and the confession is redacted to eliminate not only the defendant’s name but also any reference to his or her existence. Richardson, 481 U.S. at 208, 211; see also Gray v. Maryland, 523 U.S. 185, 189-91 (1998); Brewington, 352 N.C. at 507-08. This is true even if other evidence admitted at trial links the defendant to the confession. Richardson, 481 U.S. 200. Must Incriminate. The Bruton rule only applies if the statement incriminates the defendant. State v. Brewington, 352 N.C. 489, 511 (2000). A statement that does not mention or refer to the defendant in any way does not incriminate the [...]
Faculty Coordinators
