Pitts v. Mississippi · ¶4

The State of Mississippi charged Jeffrey Pitts with sexually abusing his daughter, A. G. C. When A. G. C. testified at trial, the court granted the State's motion to place a screen between A. G. C. and Pitts pursuant to a Mississippi statute which provides that child witnesses “shall have the . . . righ[t]” to “a properly constructed screen that would permit the judge and jury in the courtroom . . . to see the child but would obscure the child's view of the defendant.” Miss. Code Ann. §99–43–101(2)(g). A jury convicted Pitts. On appeal, Pitts argued that the screen violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront his accuser face to face. A divided Mississippi Supreme Court rejected Pitts's arguments and held that Mississippi's mandatory statute provided sufficient justification for the screening in this case. Held: Under Coy v. Iowa, 487 U. S. 1012, and Maryland v. Craig, 497 U. S. 836,…

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