Michael D. Crawford v. Washington

Decided March 8, 2004. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 02-9410 · 541 U.S. 36 (2004) · Cited 14,756 times

Holding

The State’s use of Sylvia’s statement violated the Confrontation Clause because, where testimonial statements are at issue, the only indicium of reliability sufficient to satisfy constitutional demands is confrontation.

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 9–0.

“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.

• White v. Illinois · 502 U.S. 346 (1992)
• Ohio v. Roberts · 448 U.S. 56 (1980)
• Kirby v. United States · 174 U.S. 47 (1899)
• Lilly v. Virginia · 527 U.S. 116 (1999)
• Lee v. Illinois · 476 U.S. 530 (1986)
• Dutton v. Evans · 400 U.S. 74 (1970)
• United States v. Inadi · 475 U.S. 387 (1986)
• Pointer v. Texas · 380 U.S. 400 (1965)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• California v. Green · 399 U.S. 149 (1970)
• Idaho v. Wright · 497 U.S. 805 (1990)
• Coy v. Iowa · 487 U.S. 1012 (1988)
• Tennessee v. Street · 471 U.S. 409 (1985)
• Carmell v. Texas · 529 U.S. 513 (2000)
• Bruton v. United States · 391 U.S. 123 (1968)
• Rhode Island v. Innis · 446 U.S. 291 (1980)
• Ring v. Arizona · 536 U.S. 584 (2002)
• Bourjaily v. United States · 483 U.S. 171 (1987)
• Maryland v. Craig · 497 U.S. 836 (1990)
• Douglas v. Alabama · 380 U.S. 415 (1965)
• Barber v. Page · 390 U.S. 719 (1968)
• Reynolds v. United States · 98 U.S. 145 (1879)
• Kentucky v. Stincer · 482 U.S. 730 (1987)
• Cruz v. New York · 481 U.S. 186 (1987)
• Mancusi v. Stubbs · 408 U.S. 204 (1972)
• Roberts v. Russell · 392 U.S. 293 (1968)
• Parker v. Randolph · 442 U.S. 62 (1979)
• Motes v. United States · 178 U.S. 458 (1900)
• Salinger v. United States · 272 U.S. 542 (1926)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts · 557 U.S. 305 (2009)
• Whorton v. Bockting · 549 U.S. 406 (2007)
• Giles v. California · 554 U.S. 353 (2008)
• Davis v. Washington · 547 U.S. 813 (2006)
• Williams v. Illinois · 567 U.S. 50 (2012)
• Danforth v. Minnesota · 552 U.S. 264 (2008)
• Ohio v. Clark · 576 U.S. 237 (2015)
• Smith v. Arizona · 602 U.S. 779 (2024)
• Hemphill v. New York · 595 U.S. 140 (2022)
• Samia v. United States · 599 U.S. 635 (2023)
• Edwards v. Vannoy · 593 U.S. 255 (2021)
• United States v. Rahimi · 602 U.S. 680 (2024)
• Ramos v. Louisiana · 590 U.S. 83 (2020)
• McQuiggin v. Perkins · 569 U.S. 383 (2013)
• Birchfield v. N. Dakota. William Robert Bernard · 579 U.S. 438 (2016)
• Carey v. Musladin · 549 U.S. 70 (2006)
• Indiana v. Edwards · 554 U.S. 164 (2008)
• Woods v. Etherton · 578 U.S. 113 (2016)
• Williams v. Pennsylvania · 579 U.S. 1 (2016)
• United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez · 548 U.S. 140 (2006)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• SEC v. Jarkesy · 603 U.S. 109 (2024)
• Blakely v. Washington · 542 U.S. 296 (2004)
• Pearson v. Callahan · 555 U.S. 223 (2009)
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen · 597 U.S. 1 (2022)
• Boumediene v. Bush · 553 U.S. 723 (2008)
• Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., Humboldt Cty. · 542 U.S. 177 (2004)
• McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky. · 545 U.S. 844 (2005)
• Hamdan v. Rumsfeld · 548 U.S. 557 (2006)
• Smith v. United States · 599 U.S. 236 (2023)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2004). 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).