UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. KAIXIANG ZHU
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Per Curiam (Panel), April 12, 2017,
Right to Compel Witnesses- Sixth Amendment- Deportation of a defense witness was not a violation where the witness testimony would have been cumulative with other evidence

Deportation of a Witness – The Supreme Court previously held that in order to claim a Sixth Amendment violation, a defendant must show that a deported witness must be both material and favorable to the defendant.

Deportation of a Witness – Cumulative testimony is not material, as it is available from other witnesses

The Court chose not to address whether or not bad faith on the part of the government must be shown

There is also an interesting theory of layered hearsay, where an interpreter was used to write an e-mail that was sent to an undercover agent.

The Fourth Circuit previously held that authentication of an interpretation is balanced based on:
“1) which party supplied the interpreter;
2) whether the interpreter had a motive to mislead or distort;
3) the interpreter’s qualifications and language skills;
and 4) whether actions taken subsequent to the conversation were consistent with the statements translated.”