Davis v. Alaska
United States Supreme Court
415 U.S. 308 (1974)
A key prosecution witness, sixteen-year-old Green, identified Davis (defendant) as a suspect in a theft investigation while Green was himself on juvenile probation for burglary; Davis sought to cross-examine Green about his probation status specifically to suggest Green felt pressure to identify a suspect to deflect police suspicion from himself, but the trial court granted the state's protective order barring any reference to Green's juvenile record, and Davis was convicted. The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed, finding Davis had adequate alternative opportunity to explore bias without the juvenile record, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to impeach a witness through cross-examination outweighs a state's interest in maintaining the confidentiality of the witness's juvenile record.