Harmless Error and Standards of Review
Confrontation Clause violations are usually subject to harmless error review. This means that even if evidence has been admitted in violation of the Confrontation Clause, a defendant is not entitled to a new trial if the reviewing court is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the inadmissible evidence did not contribute to the verdict. Harmless error is not a standard of review, and is an analysis for whether the error might have affected the jury's decision.
Where a defendant fails to object to the inadmissible evidence at the time of trial or fails to specify that she or he is objecting on Confrontation Clause grounds, the reviewing court will sometimes only review for more substantial errors such as "plain error" or an error that results in a manifest injustice. Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal review unobjected to Confrontation Clause errors for plain error. State courts vary widely in their requirements for reviewing Confrontation Clause errors, but many review for either plain error, manifest injustice, or another similar standard. In many instances, courts reverse on Confrontation Clause grounds without analyzing whether an error is harmless. The most common reason for omitting such an analysis is the government's failure to raise harmlessness as an issue. Generally, defendants do not raise harmlessness unless the government does so.
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Famous quotes containing the words harmless, error, standards and/or review:
“A trait no other nation seems to possess in quite the same degree that we do—namely, a feeling of almost childish injury and resentment unless the world as a whole recognizes how innocent we are of anything but the most generous and harmless intentions.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
“Knowledge is ancient error reflecting on its youth.”
—Francis Picabia (1878–1953)
“In full view of his television audience, he preached a new religion—or a new form of Christianity—based on faith in financial miracles and in a Heaven here on earth with a water slide and luxury hotels. It was a religion of celebrity and showmanship and fun, which made a mockery of all puritanical standards and all canons of good taste. Its standard was excess, and its doctrines were tolerance and freedom from accountability.”
—New Yorker (April 23, 1990)
“Reading any collection of a man’s quotations is like eating the ingredients that go into a stew instead of cooking them together in the pot. You eat all the carrots, then all the potatoes, then the meat. You won’t go away hungry, but it’s not quite satisfying. Only a biography, or autobiography, gives you the hot meal.”
—Christopher Buckley, U.S. author. A review of three books of quotations from Newt Gingrich. “Newtie’s Greatest Hits,” The New York Times Book Review (March 12, 1995)