Williams v. Illinois (2012)

Williams v. Illinois
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 6, 2011 Decided June 18, 2012
Full case name	Sandy Williams v. State of Illinois
Citations	567 U.S. 50 ( more )
Holding
Petitioner's rights under the Confrontation Clause were not violated when an expert witness is called as a stand-in for a lab analyst who performed a DNA test.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Antonin Scalia  · Anthony Kennedy Clarence Thomas  · Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer  · Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor  · Elena Kagan
Case opinions
Plurality	Alito, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Breyer
Concurrence	Breyer
Concurrence	Thomas (in judgment)
Dissent	Kagan, joined by Scalia, Ginsburg, Sotomayor
Laws applied
Confrontation Clause

Williams v. Illinois, 567 U.S. 50 (2012) was a United States Supreme Court case where it was ruled that having an expert witness testify on behalf of a third-party lab analyst does not violate the Sixth Amendment's Confrontation Clause as long as the results were not directed to prove guilt. ^{[1] [2]}

References

1. WILLIAMS v. ILLINOIS Cornell Legal Information Institute
2. Fisher, Jeffrey (June 20, 2012). "The holdings and implications of Williams v. Illinois". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved July 6, 2025.

External links

• Text of Williams v. Illinois, 567 U.S. 50(2012) is available from: CourtListener Findlaw Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)