(Download) "Chapman Et Al. v. California" by Supreme Court of the United States ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Chapman Et Al. v. California
- Author : Supreme Court of the United States
- Release Date : January 20, 1967
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 84 KB
Description
upon a charge that they robbed, kidnaped, and murdered a bartender. She was sentenced to life imprisonment and he to death. At the time of the trial, Art. I, ? 13, of the States Constitution provided that "in any criminal case, whether the defendant testifies or not, his failure to explain or to deny by his testimony any evidence or facts in the case against him may be commented upon by the court and by counsel, and may be considered by the court or the jury." Both petitioners in this case chose not to testify at their trial, and the States attorney prosecuting them took full advantage of his right under the State Constitution to comment upon their failure to testify, filling his argument to the jury from beginning to end with numerous references to their silence and inferences of their guilt resulting therefrom. The trial court also charged the jury that it could draw adverse inferences from petitioners failure to testify. Shortly after the trial, but before petitioners cases had been considered on appeal by the California Supreme Court, this Court decided Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, in which we held Californias constitutional provision and practice invalid on the ground that they put a penalty on the exercise of a persons right not to be compelled to be a witness against himself, guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the
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