Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts
Business records such as laboratory reports by chemists are not admissible
over a defendant's Confrontation Clause objection if the reports were
created to establish or prove some fact at trial. The State's introduction of affidavits detailing a laboratory
analysis of seized drugs without calling the chemist who analyzed the
drugs violated of the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to
confrontation. Laboratory reports by chemists are subject to the rule
in Crawford. States, however, may adopt notice-and-demand statutes-and the Court specifically cited CCP Art. 38.41-to deal with the non-testifying chemist issue.
