Villarreal v. Texas · ¶25

For those reasons, we held in Geders that the Sixth Amendment precludes the judge from keeping a defendant and his lawyer apart during that crucial interlude in the defendant's testimony. We observed that concerns about “the problem of possible improper infuence on testimony or `coaching' of a witness” can be addressed without so blunt an instrument as a complete overnight barrier. Id., at 89. And, “[t]o the extent that confict remains” between the Constitution and the interest in untutored cross-examination, we concluded that “the confict must, under the Sixth Amendment, be resolved in favor of the right to the assistance and guidance of counsel.” Id., at 91.

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