Villarreal v. Texas · ¶2
Held: A qualified conferral order that prohibits only discussion of the defendant's testimony for its own sake during a midtestimony overnight recess permissibly balances the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel against the burden of offering unaltered trial testimony and does not violate the Constitution. Pp. 470–480. (a) The Sixth Amendment guarantees as “fundamental” a criminal defendant's right to consult with counsel. Powell v. Alabama, 287 U. S. 45, 68. When a defendant takes the witness stand, however, he “[a]ssum[es] the position of a witness,” with its attendant “criticisms and burdens.” Reagan v. United States, 157 U. S. 301, 305. These include the inability to receive advice from counsel aimed at “infuenc[ing] the testimony in light of the testimony already given.” Geders v. United States, 425 U. S. 80, 87. In Geders, the Court held that a judge may not entirely…Read in context ›
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