Does a prosecutor have to make a good faith effort to obtain the presence of an unavailable witness?
MultiRegion, United States of America
The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Winn, 767 F.2d 527 (9th Cir. 1985):
A witness is not "unavailable" unless the prosecutor makes a good faith effort to obtain the witness's presence. Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 74, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 2543, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980). But, "[t]he law does not require the doing of a futile act," and the extent of the efforts the prosecutor must make is a question of reasonableness. Id.
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