Prior to the trial, another Woodville man, Gable McDonald, told at least three people that he, not Chambers, had shot Liberty and gave a sworn confession.

[3] In an opinion written by Justice Powell for an eight-Justice majority, the Court agreed that Chambers had been unconstitutionally deprived of a fair trial.

"[4] Here, because of the trial court's ruling on the defense's adverse-witness motion, "Chambers was denied an opportunity to subject McDonald's damning repudiation and alibi to cross-examination.

Chambers' rights were further violated by the trial judge's refusal to permit testimony from the three other witnesses, who would have testified that McDonald made statements shortly after the crime identifying himself as the shooter.

Mississippi sought to defend this exclusion as a straightforward application of the hearsay rule, under which "[o]ut-of-court statements are traditionally excluded because they lack the conventional indicia of reliability," such as being made under oath and subject to cross-examination.

Here, "[t]he hearsay statements involved in this case were originally made and subsequently offered at trial under circumstances that provided considerable assurance of their reliability.

"[7] The Court "conclude[d] that the exclusion of this critical evidence, coupled with the State's refusal to permit Chambers to cross-examine McDonald, denied him a trial in accord with traditional and fundamental standards of due process.

The shooting of Officer Liberty took place during a period of racial unrest in Woodville, during which African-American residents were boycotting white-owned establishments to press demands for desegregation and increased services to black neighborhoods.