Does commenting on a defendant's refusal to testify violate the Fifth Amendment's self-incrimination clause?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Jeffers, 188 Cal.App.3d 840, 233 Cal.Rptr. 692 (Cal. App. 1987):
Comment on a defendant's failure to testify violates the Fifth Amendment's self-incrimination clause by imposing a penalty for exercising a constitutional privilege and making assertion of the privilege costly. (Griffin v. California, supra, 380 U.S. at p. 614, 85 S.Ct. at p. 1232.)
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