Chambers v. Mississippi | |
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Argued November 15, 1972 Decided February 21, 1973 | |
Full case name | Leon Chambers v. State of Mississippi |
Docket no. | 71-5908 |
Citations | 410 U.S. 284 (more) 93 S. Ct. 1038. 35 L. Ed. 2d 297 |
Argument | Oral argument |
Case history | |
Prior | Chambers v. State, 252 So. 2d 217 (Miss. 1971) (per curiam); bail granted, 405 U.S. 1205 (1972); cert. granted, 405 U.S. 987 (1972). |
Holding | |
A state may not enforce its rules of evidence in a criminal trial so as to disallow the defendant the right to present reliable exculpatory evidence and thereby deny the defendant a fair trial. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Powell, joined by Burger, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, Blackmun |
Concurrence | White |
Dissent | Rehnquist |
Laws applied | |
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution |
Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284 (1973), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a state may not enforce its rules of evidence, such as rules excluding hearsay, in a fashion that disallows a criminal defendant from presenting reliable exculpatory evidence and thus denies the defendant a fair trial.