Opinion ID: 567915
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Charles LeQuire, Robert LeQuire, Michael Jenkins and Harold Ward

Text: 75 Appellants Charles LeQuire, Robert LeQuire, Michael Jenkins and Harold Ward, all of whom did not testify at trial, allege that the spillover affect from the improper comment concerning Jerry LeQuire's failure to testify entitles them to a new trial as well. We disagree. 76 In analyzing these contentions, we recognize that both direct and indirect comments on a defendant's failure to testify can invalidate a conviction. United States v. Bright, 630 F.2d 804, 825 (5th Cir.1980). The test we must apply is unchanged by the fact that a direct statement does not exist as to any defendant except Jerry LeQuire. The appellants still must prove that it was the prosecutor's manifest intention to remark on their silence or that the jury necessarily understood the comment to be a statement on their silence. United States v. Stuart-Caballero, 686 F.2d 890, 892 (11th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1209, 103 S.Ct. 1202, 75 L.Ed.2d 444 (1983); United States v. Rosenthal, 793 F.2d 1214, 1243 (11th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 919, 107 S.Ct. 1377, 94 L.Ed.2d 692 (1987). Moreover, the comments must be examined in the context in which they are made. Rogers v. McMullen, 673 F.2d 1185 (11th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1110, 103 S.Ct. 740, 74 L.Ed.2d 961 (1983). 77 Here, the statement which the appellants claim denied them a fair trial was: [o]ne thing Jerry Allen LeQuire does not have going for him, he doesn't have the guts to tell it about the Colombians and get on that stand (R. 19-2372). This comment was made regarding Jerry LeQuire's failure to testify, not the appellants. Accordingly, we hold that the prosecutor did not possess the requisite manifest intent as to the non-testifying defendants. 78 Next, we must examine whether the jury naturally and necessarily would take the comment to be a statement on the appellants' failure to testify. The question is not whether the jury possibly or even probably would view the challenged remark in this manner but whether the jury necessarily would have done so. United States v. Griggs, 735 F.2d 1318, 1324 (11th Cir.1984) (quoting Williams v. Wainwright, 673 F.2d 1182, 1185 (11th Cir.1982) (emphasis in original)). 79 In the instant case no direct mention was made of the non-testifying defendants' failure to testify. Instead, the remark was made concerning a co-defendant's silence and the jury could easily have taken it to be just that, a remark on Jerry Lequire's silence. In light of this finding, we cannot say that the jury necessarily would have taken the challenged remark to be a comment on the appellants' failure to testify.