Crawford v. Washington

Crawford (defendant) was charged with stabbing a man who allegedly tried to rape his wife, Sylvia; at trial, the prosecution introduced Sylvia's recorded police statement describing the stabbing, since she was unavailable to testify due to state marital privilege, and Crawford never had any prior opportunity to cross-examine her about that statement. The trial court admitted the tape and convicted Crawford; the Washington Court of Appeals reversed on Confrontation Clause grounds, but the Washington Supreme Court reinstated the conviction, finding the statement sufficiently reliable, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.