Sixth Amendment

Question 1

Confrontation Clause - two defendants tried together

Answer 1

Under the Sixth Amendment, a defendant in a criminal prosecution has the right to confront adverse witnesses at trial. If two persons are tried together and one has given a confession that implicates the other, the right of confrontation generally prohibits the use of that statement because the other defendant cannot compel the confessing co-defendant to take the stand for cross-examination. A co-defendant’s confession is inadmissible even when it interlocks with the defendant’s own confession, which is admitted.

Question 2

Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel

Answer 2

The Sixth Amendment, which applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, provides that in all criminal prosecutions the defendant has a right to the assistance of counsel during all critical stages of a criminal prosecution after formal proceedings have begun. The right is also offense specific; if a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel has attached regarding one charge, he may be questioned without counsel concerning an unrelated charge. Police offers’ failure to inform a suspect that his lawyer is attempting to see him does no violate the Sixth Amendment, except with regard to charges for which judicial proceedings have commenced.

Question 3

Sixth Amendment right to a jury - what must go to the jury

Answer 3

The Sixth Amendment provides a right to trial by jury. If substantive law provides that a sentence may be increased beyond the statutory maximum for a crime if additional facts are proved, proof of the facts must be submitted to the jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant’s right to a jury trial is violated if the judge makes the determination that additional facts were proved.