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On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Adam Samia serving a life sentence for his role on an international hit squad. The case was about what happens in a trial when one person’s confession implicates someone else.

Samia's lawyers said that another man’s confession unfairly implicated their client as the trigger man. And this was a violation of his constitutional rights, Samia's lawyers said. 

The co-defendant did not testify in his own defense so there was no opportunity for Samia’s trial lawyers to question the man.

But the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, said prosecutors had done enough to protect Samia's rights.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion. He claimed that there was no violation of the constitutional provision that gives a defendant the right to confront his accuser.

The confession was altered to substitute “someone” or “the other person” whenever Samia's name was mentioned. And the judge’s instructions to the jury warned them not to consider the confession in assessing Samia's guilt.

Thomas said Samia did not deserve a new trial because the confession “did not directly inculpate the defendant and was subject to a proper limiting instruction.”

The court's three liberal justices dissented. Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the majority decision “undermines a vital constitutional protection for the accused.”

International hit squad

Adam Samia’s original conviction was for the murder of a real estate broker in the Philippines. 

He was tried with two accomplices who allegedly carried out the attack on the orders of South African, Paul LeRoux, an international crime boss.

LeRoux ordered the killing of broker, Catherine Lee because he believed she had stolen money from him.

 LeRoux was a ruthless killer whose organized crime family committed crimes in many countries. And he had huge worldwide resources in technology, drugs, weapons, and people.

The criminal enterprise maintained a team of mercenaries made up of ex-military men who acted as an international hit squad. And murdered LeRoux’s enemies.

The crime boss was arrested in 2012. And cooperated with federal authorities to bring down the criminal empire he had built. 

The 2019 book “Hunting LeRoux: The Inside Story of the DEA Takedown of a Criminal Genius and His Empire” by Elaine Shannon details the true-crime story.