WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a rape conviction over objections that the defendant did not have the chance to question the reliability of the DNA evidence that helped convict him.

The court’s 5-4 ruling went against a run of high court decisions that bolstered the right of criminal defendants to confront witnesses against them.

Justice Clarence Thomas provided the margin of difference in the case to uphold the conviction of Sandy Williams, even though Thomas has more often sided with defendants on the issue of cross-examination of witnesses.