Legal Question in Constitutional Law in South Dakota

Re: anonymous tip lines

Defendants are entitled to confront witnesses whose information is used to persuade the jury of his guilt. They are generally not entitled to confront someone whose only role in the case was to make police and/or prosecutors suspicious of the defendant or point them toward evidence which other witnesses can authenticate. This is usually all an anonymous tipster does. If the prosecution tries to use the tip to prove too much, then the confrontation clause might come into play.