The Supreme Court applied the Sixth Amendment right of the accused to confront witnesses to the states through the incorporation doctrine.

An attorney for Pointer objected to the use during his trial of a transcript containing the testimony of a robbery victim who had moved out of state. The testimony was taken at a preliminary hearing in which the Pointer was present but without counsel. Pointer was convicted largely on the basis of this transcript. Justice Hugo L. BlackBlack, Hugo L.;Pointer v. Texas[Pointer v. Texas] wrote the unanimous opinion for the Court, which overturned Pointer’s conviction. The Court found that the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee to the accused of the right to confront witnesses is so fundamental that it applies to the states through incorporation under the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause. Justices Arthur J. Goldberg, John M. Harlan II, and Potter Stewart concurred separately.Confrontation of witnesses;Pointer v. Texas[Pointer v. Texas]

Bill of Rights

Due process, procedural

Fourteenth Amendment

Incorporation doctrine

Witnesses, confrontation of