New York Court of Appeals

The People of the State of New York v. Sean John

April 28, 201627 N.Y.3d 294

Summary

The Court held that the DNA laboratory reports introduced at trial were testimonial statements, violating the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confrontation, and therefore reversed the judgment and ordered a new trial. The Court also announced that at least one analyst who performed or supervised the DNA profiling must be available to testify, while analysts involved only in preliminary testing stages need not be produced.