What is the test for independent review of a prosecution's failure to locate and present a witness?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Sandoval, 105 Cal.Rptr.2d 504, 87 Cal.App.4th 1425 (Cal. App. 2001):
We "independently review a trial court's determination that the prosecution's failed efforts to locate an absent witness are sufficient to justify an exception to the defendant's constitutionally guaranteed right of confrontation at trial." (People v. Cromer (2001) 24 Cal.4th 889, 901, 103 Cal.Rptr.2d 23, 15 P.3d 243.) While Cromer speaks solely of failed efforts to locate an absent witness, there is
[105 Cal.Rptr.2d 509]
no logical reason not to apply the independent review standard to failed efforts to obtain the attendance of a witness at trial. (See Ohio v. Roberts, supra, 448 U.S. at pp. 74-75, 100 S.Ct. 2531 [requiring goodfaith effort to "locate and present" the witness].)
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