Right to Confront

The confrontation clause has been a valued law in American courts throughout our history, although the clause has seen some discord. The confrontation clause specifically states that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to be confronted with the witness against him. This clause was brought about to protect rights of the accused in criminal prosecutions, by allowing cross examination and allowing the accused to look the witness against him in the eye. Particularly in the case Coy v. Iowa, John Coy tested this constitutional right against the state of Iowa. Coy was set free after being convicted of sexually assaulting two thirteen year old girls. A technicality in how the case took place was ultimately the basis of Coy’s release, and not evidence that lead to the original guilty verdict. Though the right to confront is a highly valued right here in America, certain cases involving children, exceptions have to be made and clarified to protect children in the sexual abuse cases. There are some laws regarding sexual abuse cases and children, but the proper system has yet to be set up to guarantee protection for children in all sexual abuse cases. As in the case with Coy v. Iowa the lack of clarification in the confrontation clause resulted in John Coy’s release. Coy was tried for sexually assaulting two 13-year-old girls, Kathy Brown and Lynda Thompson. Brown and Thompson were sleeping in their makeshift tent in their backyard when a masked man came into their tent in the night, grabbed them both by the throat and declared, “If you scream, I will knock you out.” The masked man then continued to sexually assault them in a lascivious manner. As daylight arrived and the assault came to an end the girls were left terrified and battered. The girls never did see the face of their assaulter, but they did remember certain details about the night. They recalled a plastic cup that was urinated in during the assault, the flashlight that was used by

Cited: Alderman, Ellen, and Caroline Kennedy. In Our Defense: the Bill of Rights in Action. New York: Morrow, 1991. Print. "Child Abuse Research and Statistics." Sexual Abuse. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. . "Coy v. Iowa, U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument." The Oyez Project | U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Recordings, Case Abstracts and More. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. . Grearson, Katherine W. "Proposed Uniform Child Witness Testimony ACT: An Impermissible Abridgement of Criminal Defendants ' Rights." Boston College. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. . "Maryland v. Craig, U.S. Supreme Court Case Summary & Oral Argument." The Oyez Project | U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Recordings, Case Abstracts and More. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. .