## Facts

- Alfred David Webb was tried in Texas state court for burglary.
- After the prosecution rested, Webb sought to call his only defense witness, Leslie Max Mills, an incarcerated person with a prior criminal record.
- Outside the jury’s presence, the trial judge, on the court’s own initiative, delivered a lengthy warning to Mills that he did not have to testify and that anything he said could be used against him.
- The judge repeatedly emphasized perjury risks, stated the court would “personally see” perjury charges presented to a grand jury, and warned additional prison time would likely be “stacked” onto Mills’s current sentence if he lied.
- The judge also warned the testimony could affect Mills’s parole prospects and stressed the “hazard” of taking the stand.
- Defense counsel objected that the court’s remarks exerted duress on the only defense witness and noted no similar admonition had been given to prosecution witnesses.
- After the admonition, Mills refused to testify, leaving Webb without any defense witnesses.
- Webb was convicted and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment; the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether a trial judge violates due process by issuing a severe, one-sided warning that intimidates the defendant’s sole witness into refusing to testify, thereby denying the defendant the ability to present witnesses in his defense.

## Decision

- The U.S. Supreme Court reversed in a per curiam decision.
- The Court held that the judge’s threatening admonition effectively discouraged the defense witness from testifying.
- By driving off the only defense witness, the judge denied Webb due process by depriving him of the opportunity to present witnesses in his own defense.

## Legal Principles

- Due process guarantees a criminal defendant a meaningful opportunity to present witnesses in his own behalf.
- State action, including judicial conduct, that substantially interferes with a defense witness’s free and unhampered choice to testify violates due process.
- A judge may not use warnings about perjury in a coercive, selective manner that intimidates a defense witness into silence.

## Conclusion

The Supreme Court set aside Webb’s conviction because the trial judge’s threatening, one-sided admonition intimidated the sole defense witness into refusing to testify, denying Webb due process and the right to present witnesses in his defense.


Webb v. Texas, 409 U.S. 95 (1972)