Giles v. California
Decided June 25, 2008. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 07-6053 · 554 U.S. 353 (2008) · Cited 725 times
Holding
The California Supreme Court’s theory of forfeiture by wrongdoing is not an exception to the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation requirement because it was not an exception established at the founding.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 6–3.
Majority · 2
- Antonin Scalia · delivered the opinion of the Court
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
Concurring · 4
- Clarence Thomas · filed a concurring opinion
- David Hackett Souter · filed a concurring opinion
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Samuel A. Alito Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 3
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- John Paul Stevens
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · filed a dissenting opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Crawford v. Washington · 541 U.S. 36 (2004)
- Davis v. Washington · 547 U.S. 813 (2006)
- Reynolds v. United States · 98 U.S. 145 (1879)
- Ohio v. Roberts · 448 U.S. 56 (1980)
- Bourjaily v. United States · 483 U.S. 171 (1987)
- Diaz v. United States · 223 U.S. 442 (1912)
- Motes v. United States · 178 U.S. 458 (1900)
- Dutton v. Evans · 400 U.S. 74 (1970)
- United States v. Aguilar · 515 U.S. 593 (1995)
- United States v. Falstaff Brewing Corp. · 410 U.S. 526 (1973)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- United States v. Rahimi · 602 U.S. 680 (2024)
- Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts · 557 U.S. 305 (2009)
- Ohio v. Clark · 576 U.S. 237 (2015)
- Hemphill v. New York · 595 U.S. 140 (2022)
- New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen · 597 U.S. 1 (2022)
- Williams v. Illinois · 567 U.S. 50 (2012)
- Smith v. Arizona · 602 U.S. 779 (2024)
- Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (2022)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2008). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).