Defendant is awaiting trial for murder, and he's told the State's best witness to get out of town.

We don't necessarily want to subject our witness to a witness bond, but we will if we have to. The real question is whether the State can use the witness' sworn statements to the police as substantive evidence at trial if she disappears. We DO NOT have prior in-court statements, so Rule 801 is out. Any other ideas?

In one of the Texas Prosecutor magazines last year there was an article about getting around Crawford by not allowing the defendant to benefit from his own wrongdoing. It referenced some case law that was helpful....not exactly on point for you but may be a start. Reynolds v. US is the federal forfeiture by wrong doing case... the article cites Texas law also...Gonzales 155 SW3d 603 from 2004. I don't know how to do links, but the article is in Volume 35, Number 4 from July/Aug. of 2005.

Thanks for the cite. Looks like the CCA affirmed the San Antonio CoA last year in the above-referenced cite. I appreciate your help. Hopefully we won't have to use this.

How about seeking to revoke the defendant's bond for tampering with a witness, or the attempted tampering?