Opinion ID: 2582028
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Comment on the Right to Remain Silent

Text: [¶18] At the outset we need to emphasize that this issue requires us to address one of the most fundamental rights accorded a defendant in our criminal justice system. It is very clear from the transcript that the prosecutor asked Williams if he had volunteered any of the information that made up his version of the alleged horse theft when law enforcement officers questioned him. It is also clear in the context of the trial proceedings that Williams was in custody in Johnson County when he was questioned. Williams' answer, of course, was to the effect that he had not. Under our established precedents this was clearly a comment on Williams' right to remain silent. See Tortolito v. State, 901 P.2d 387, 389-91 (Wyo. 1995). Because no objection was made, we must assess this claim of error under the plain error doctrine set out above. We have already concluded that the error is clear from the record and that it violated a clear and unequivocal rule of law. There was only one purport to the question, and that was Why did you stand silent when questioned by the police, if you have such a good story/defense? Given the circumstances of this case, we are compelled to conclude that this comment was gratuitous, and hopefully made in ignorance of the applicable law, rather than made knowing full well its import. We do not see the need, nor would it advance our jurisprudence in this regard, to attempt to equate these circumstances with those wherein we have found fleeting comments, or equivocal comments, either not prejudicial or harmless. We hold that the error is significant enough here that reversal is mandated on this basis as well.