Opinion ID: 2575837
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Protection

Text: {11} There are four relevant time periods at which a defendant may either volunteer a statement or remain silent: before arrest; after arrest, but before the warnings required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), have been given; after Miranda warnings have been given; and at trial. The general rule limiting prosecution comment on a defendant's silence is drawn from multiple sources, which are variously applied to each of these time periods. We have recognized that the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, the Due Process Clause, and New Mexico evidentiary rules all limit prosecutorial comment on a defendant's silence. See Foster, 1998-NMCA-163, ¶ 9, 126 N.M. 177, 967 P.2d 852. Although we ultimately conclude that this case involves only pre-arrest and post- Miranda periods, we touch on all four briefly because the rules on preservation and the standard of review change with the source of the protection. See generally Garcia, 118 N.M. at 776-77, 887 P.2d at 770-71 (distinguishing post-arrest, pre- Miranda silence from post-arrest, post- Miranda silence). {12} The Fifth Amendment protects a defendant's decision not to testify at trial from prosecutorial comment. See Griffin, 380 U.S. at 613-14, 85 S.Ct. 1229 (describing a state constitutional provision permitting comment on a defendant's silence at trial as a violation of the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination). Similarly, due process guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment protects post- Miranda silence. Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 618-19, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976) (holding that, in light of the assurance implicit in the Miranda warning that silence will carry no penalty, it would be fundamentally unfair and a denial of due process protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to allow post- Miranda silence to be used in a state criminal trial to impeach an explanation subsequently offered at trial). Where a timely objection is made, a mistrial may be required. See State v. Lopez, 105 N.M. 538, 544-45, 734 P.2d 778, 784-85 (Ct.App.1986). If a mistrial is denied, a new trial may be ordered on appeal unless the State can show the error is harmless. Id. In the absence of a timely objection from a defendant, comments on a defendant's exercise of his or her right not to testify, or right to remain silent, are reviewed for fundamental error. State v. Allen, 2000-NMSC-002, ¶ 27, 128 N.M. 482, 994 P.2d 728. {13} The law regarding post-arrest, pre- Miranda silence is less clear. The United States Constitution does not limit the use of post-arrest, pre- Miranda silence to impeach a defendant at trial. Fletcher v. Weir, 455 U.S. 603, 607, 102 S.Ct. 1309, 71 L.Ed.2d 490 (1982). The federal circuits, however, are divided on the question of whether the Fifth Amendment bars the use of a defendant's post-arrest, pre- Miranda silence as proof of guilt. [2] The standard of review applicable to post-arrest, pre- Miranda situations has not been determined in New Mexico. See generally State v. Gutierrez, 2003-NMCA-077, ¶ 10, 133 N.M. 797, 70 P.3d 787 (noting the absence of New Mexico law on this point, and assuming for the appeal that a Miranda warning had been given); Garcia, 118 N.M. at 777, 887 P.2d at 771 (assuming that the same standard is applied before and after Miranda warnings). Rather, we have assumed warnings were given when the record did not permit us to determine whether or not they were given. Gutierrez, 2003-NMCA-077, ¶ 10, 133 N.M. 797, 70 P.3d 787. Because we also assume in this case that Miranda warnings were given when Defendant was arrested by the Pojoaque Tribal Police, we do not determine the appropriate review of a comment on post-arrest, pre- Miranda silence at this time. {14} We have recognized the general absence of a constitutional limitation on using pre-arrest silence to impeach, see State v. Gonzales, 113 N.M. 221, 229, 824 P.2d 1023, 1031 (1992), although a suspect's silence is protected if the suspect invokes the right to remain silent in response to non-custodial interrogation. In Gonzales, we observed that, based on Jenkins v. Anderson, 447 U.S. 231, 100 S.Ct. 2124, 65 L.Ed.2d 86 (1980), the use of a defendant's pre[-]arrest silence to impeach is constitutional. Gonzales, 113 N.M. at 229, 824 P.2d at 1031. Nevertheless, any evidence remains subject to normal evidentiary rules and should be excluded where its prejudicial effect substantially outweighs its probative value. See Rule 11-403 NMRA 2006. {15} New Mexico evidentiary rules limited comment on a defendant's silence prior to the Supreme Court's decision in Doyle. See Baca, 89 N.M. at 205, 549 P.2d at 283 (reviewing reference by a witness to post-arrest, post- Miranda silence as an evidentiary matter); State v. Lara, 88 N.M. 233, 539 P.2d 623 (Ct.App.1975) (holding that comments on a defendant's silence were prejudicial, of minimal probative value, and would require reversal). In the absence of controlling federal law, we return to these principles. Because silence is often too ambiguous to have great probative force and may be given improper weight by a jury, evidence of a defendant's silence generally is not admissible as proof of guilt. See also Garcia v. State, 103 N.M. 713, 714, 712 P.2d 1375, 1376 (1986) (distinguishing Jenkins and holding that pre-arrest refusal to permit a search could not be used as proof of guilt when the defendant did not testify at trial); Lara, 88 N.M. at 234-35, 539 P.2d at 624-25 (describing prosecutor's inquiry about a defendant's silence as reversible error if the fact of post-arrest, post- Miranda silence lacked significant probative value). We have recognized exceptions to this rule when the State can make some additional showing of relevance. See, e.g., Foster, 1998-NMCA-163, ¶¶ 12, 15, 126 N.M. 177, 967 P.2d 852 (holding that evidence of omission of exculpatory details in an ostensibly complete statement to police was relevant and admissible for impeachment purposes). We review these evidentiary decisions for abuse of discretion, Allen, 2000-NMSC-002, ¶ 17, 128 N.M. 482, 994 P.2d 728, and where no objection is made at trial, limit our review to plain error. Id. ¶ 27. {16} We also have reviewed comments on a defendant's silence as prosecutorial misconduct, see, e.g., Hennessy, 114 N.M. at 286, 837 P.2d at 1369, but applied essentially the same fundamental error analysis used in post-arrest comment on silence cases. Compare Allen, 2000-NMSC-002, ¶ 95, 128 N.M. 482, 994 P.2d 728 (reviewing a claim of prosecutorial misconduct), with id. ¶ 27 (reviewing the effect of a comment on silence). Where comments by a prosecutor encourage a jury to base its decision on improper grounds, we consider whether this misconduct denied the defendant a fair trial. Id. ¶ 27. Where no objection was made at trial, we review the claim on appeal for fundamental error. Id. {17} The comments made by the prosecutor refer to Defendant's silence in the immediate aftermath of the attack and also in the three-week interval between the attack and Defendant's statement to police. Defendant was not immediately apprehended by police. The prosecutor's comment that Defendant could have, but chose not to, contact the police was a reference to pre-arrest silence, but it should not be reviewed as an evidentiary matter. These comments may, however, have constituted prosecutorial misconduct by encouraging the jury to convict Defendant on improper grounds, and we consider below whether this comment constituted fundamental error. Id. {18} The prosecutor also commented on Defendant's silence after his arrest. The three-week interval on which the prosecutor commented includes time when Defendant was in the custody of the Pojoaque Tribal Police between December 16 and December 28. The record does not indicate whether Defendant was given the Miranda warnings on December16, and the State argues that we should assume that no warning was given. We decline, however, to place on Defendant the burden of showing that law enforcement complied with the well-known requirements of Miranda. Rather, where such an inference will benefit a defendant, we presume that the warning was given. See Gutierrez, 2003-NMCA-077, ¶ 10, 133 N.M. 797, 70 P.3d 787. {19} We conclude that Defendant's silence while in the custody of the Pojoaque Tribal Police is protected even though he was held on unrelated charges. Doyle, 426 U.S. at 617-18, 96 S.Ct. 2240. The Fifth Amendment protections stated in the Miranda warnings are a general right against self-incrimination. Cf. Arizona v. Roberson, 486 U.S. 675, 683-84, 108 S.Ct. 2093, 100 L.Ed.2d 704 (1988) (holding that a suspect who has invoked his Fifth Amendment right to counsel may not be questioned regarding a separate investigation); State v. Juarez, 120 N.M. 499, 502-03, 903 P.2d 241, 244-45 (Ct.App. 1995) (holding that a defendant arrested on one charge was entitled to Miranda warnings prior to police questioning regarding another more serious charge). It would be inconsistent with Doyle to offer a defendant the implicit assurance that his or her decision to remain silent will not be used against him or her, and then add that it may be used in another trial on a different charge. 426 U.S. at 618, 96 S.Ct. 2240. Therefore, we consider Defendant's silence protected under Doyle from the moment he was arrested by the Pojoaque Tribal Police. {20} The State has also suggested that Defendant did not invoke his right to remain silent, and the prosecutor could not have commented on the exercise of a right that was not invoked. Compare State v. Garvin, 2005-NMCA-107, ¶ 24, 138 N.M. 164, 117 P.3d 970 (distinguishing a defendant's failure to provide the whole story when questioned by the police from his failure to testify at trial), and Foster, 1998-NMCA-163, ¶ 14, 126 N.M. 177, 967 P.2d 852 (The Miranda warnings do not imply that the arrestee's half-truths will carry no penalty.), with Hennessy, 114 N.M. at 288, 837 P.2d at 1371 (rejecting the argument that a defendant who gives a statement to the police waives the right to be free from comment on silence). While we agree that silence is protected only if a right to remain silent is invoked, the record contains no evidence that Defendant did not invoke this right while in the custody of the Pojoaque Tribal Police. Defendant's later statement does not have the effect of waiving any objection to comment on his silence prior to that statement. Because Defendant was in custody for a portion of the three weeks referred to by the prosecutor, and because we assume that he invoked his rights while in custody, Defendant's silence was protected as in Doyle from prosecutorial comment. He is not entitled to a new trial, however, unless he can show that the prosecutor's comments resulted in fundamental error. See Hennessy, 114 N.M. at 289, 837 P.2d at 1372.