[JZoback]

I am not surprised the SCOTUS will hear the case....the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals let this “silence as guilt” into evidence and hopefully the court will throw out this ruling...

It is the SCOTUS job to clean up lower courts screwed up rulings...

Let’s hope they don’t muddy the waters on the 5 th amendment

[Las Vegas Ron]

Let’s hope they don’t muddy the waters on the 5 th amendment

I think Kelo already accomplished that.

[highball]

I am not surprised the SCOTUS will hear the case....the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals let this “silence as guilt” into evidence and hopefully the court will throw out this ruling...

It is the SCOTUS job to clean up lower courts screwed up rulings...

I hope you're right. The potential for damaging the Constitution is huge, if they do anything less than slap this down hard.

What was the 5th thinking?

[Clump]

Just FYI, I’m a defense attorney in Texas and this is a very contentious and confusing area of the law.
Federal courts have held (incorrectly IMO) that pre arrest silence may be used against the defendant.
The ruling in state courts here depends on the skill of the defense attorney. If I object based on the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution then I’m overruled, but when I object under Article 1 Section 10 of the Texas Constitution then I’m sustained.
Sadly the error is deemed waived by the defendant if his attorney did not make the proper objection. In that case the court would not consider it on appeal.