The California Supreme Court affirmed a decision of the court of appeal. The court held that. because the act was compelled by federal law, the county sheriff’s release of a key defense witness to immigration officials for deportation did not violate the defendant’s federal and state constitutional rights to the compulsory attendance of witnesses in his favor.
A stabbing occurred at a restaurant. Several witnesses identified Armando Jacinto as the assailant. One witness said that he suspected the assailant was a woman standing with the victim. And one witness, Nicolas Esparza, stated definitively that it was the woman, and not Jacinto, who stabbed the victim. Although a restaurant employee confirmed that Esparza was at the restaurant the night of the stabbing, his testimony was never heard.
