No. 25-5267

Antonio B. Nascimento-Depina v. Massachusetts

Lower Court: Massachusetts
Docketed: 2025-08-04
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: appellate-review confrontation-clause due-process forensic-evidence harmless-error jury-determination
Latest Conference: 2025-09-29
Question Presented (from Petition)

Whether, after a state supreme court expressly acknowledging that admitting surrogate DNA-analyst testimony violated the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of due process, that court should not affirm a conviction on the rationale that the error was harmless because the case "turned entirely on the victim's credibility"—a method of review that (1) conflicts with this Court's requirement that harmless-error analysis ask whether a rational JURY, not an appellate court, could have reached a different verdict; and (2) is outcome-determinative in this and many similar prosecutions that rely on forensic certificates.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether a state supreme court's harmless-error analysis violates Sixth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment protections by improperly substituting appellate court judgment for jury determination

Docket Entries

2025-10-06
Petition DENIED.
2025-08-28
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2025.
2025-08-27
Waiver of right of respondent Massachusetts to respond filed.
2025-07-29
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due September 3, 2025)

Attorneys

Antonio B. Nascimento-Depina
Brad P. BennionLaw Office of Brad Bennion, Petitioner
Massachusetts
Jennifer Kay ZalnaskyOffice of the Attorney General of Massachusetts, Respondent