United States v. Inadi
United States Supreme Court
475 U.S. 387 (1986)
Inadi (defendant) was charged with federal drug offenses based partly on legally wiretapped recordings of a co-conspirator's statements made in furtherance of the conspiracy. The trial court found the statements satisfied the Federal Rules' co-conspirator hearsay exemption, and conditioned admission of the recordings on the prosecution's effort to produce the declarant, who ultimately failed to appear, claiming car trouble; Inadi made no independent effort to secure the witness. The trial court admitted the recordings, Inadi was convicted, and he challenged the admission on Confrontation Clause grounds, arguing unavailability had to be shown first.
Whether the Confrontation Clause requires the prosecution to prove a co-conspirator declarant's unavailability before admitting the declarant's out-of-court statements made in furtherance of the conspiracy under the Federal Rules of Evidence.