From last week's Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decision in Smith v. State, written by Justice Scott Walker:

Appellant's Confrontation Clause rights were violated by the trial court's mask mandate….

In Romero v. State (Tex. Crim. App. 2005), … one of the State's key witnesses refused to testify without wearing a "disguise" consisting of "dark sunglasses, a baseball cap pulled down over his forehead, and a long-sleeved jacket with its collar turned up and fastened so as to obscure [his] mouth, jaw, and the lower half of his nose." This Court noted that "the presence requirement is motivated by the idea that a witness cannot 'hide behind the shadow' but will be compelled to 'look [the defendant] in the eye' while giving accusatory testimony."

[The court in Romero also reasoned that, "Alt

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