TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Court: Admission of Testimony Did Not Amount to Reversible Error

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Feb 25, 2020

The Tennessee Supreme Court today affirmed the conviction of Alexander Vance despite the trial court’s error in admitting testimony regarding a non-testifying co-defendant. Vance and co-defendant Damonta Meneese were tried jointly for murder. A third co-defendant, who was severed from the case, had made pre-trial statements to police that implicated Vance and Meneese. During trial, the state requested permission to ask a detective about those statements after claiming the defense had “opened the door” for that line of questioning. The court allowed the question. Following conviction, Vance’s attorney filed for a new trial arguing the testimony violated his client’s Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses. The Supreme Court ruled that the testimony was not appropriate, but that the defense should have raised the constitutional issues during trial. It also concluded that the jury probably would have convicted Vance on other proof and therefore a new trial was not required. Read more about the case in this press release.

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