Opinion ID: 455772
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Testimony of Agent Hill

Text: 41 The appellants contend that a mistrial should have been ordered after Agent Hill testified that Love and Youngblood made no effort to explain their presence at the Lee farm on the night of their arrest. We agree with the district court that a mistrial was not warranted. The Supreme Court held in Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976) that testimony concerning a defendant's silence at the time of arrest and after receiving Miranda warnings is inadmissible. However, the Court has subsequently refined its rule in Doyle to permit testimony concerning a defendant's silence where the defendant has not received any Miranda warnings during the period in which he remained silent immediately after his arrest. Fletcher v. Weir, 455 U.S. 603, 102 S.Ct. 1309, 71 L.Ed.2d 490 (1982); see also Folston v. Allsbrook, 691 F.2d 184, 187 (4th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 939, 103 S.Ct. 2111, 77 L.Ed.2d 314 (1983). In this case neither Love nor Youngblood had been given any Miranda warnings at the time Agent Hill observed their silence. As a result, under Doyle and Fletcher, Agent Hill's testimony was properly admitted.