Washington v. Dobbs (Majority and Dissent)
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Timothy Dobbs engaged in a campaign of threats, harassment, and intimidation against his ex-girlfriend, C.R., that included a drive-by shooting at her home and warnings that she would "'get it"' for calling the police and she would "regret it" if she pressed charges against him. C.R. reported the increasingly violent activities of Dobbs against her. After Dobbs was arrested, he made yet another intimidating phone call to C.R., threatening that if she went forward and pressed charges against him, she would regret it. When C.R. failed to show up to testify at trial, the trial judge found that there was clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that Dobbs was the cause of her absence and thus had forfeited his confrontation right. Dobbs appealed the trial court's decision, but the Supreme Court, after its review, agreed with the trial court: "[w]hile Dobbs ha[d] the right to confront witnesses against him, he forfeited his right to confront C.R. when he chose to threaten her with violence for cooperating with the legal system. . . . To permit the defendant to profit from such conduct would be contrary to public policy, common sense and the underlying purpose of the confrontation clause."
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