Decision  Commonwealth v. Rosado

Date:	09/14/2018
Organization:	Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Commonwealth v. Joshua Rosado
Supreme Judicial Court, September 14, 2018
(Confrontation of witness/Forfeiture by Wrongdoing)

 The Court declines to expand the forfeiture of wrongdoing doctrine.  A defendant’s attempt to make a witness unavailable at another defendant’s trial does not trigger the doctrine.  Specifically, a defendant forfeits his right to object to inadmissible hearsay resulting from his own wrongdoing in seeking to prevent a witness from testifying against him, not against a third party in another proceeding.