Opinion ID: 374706
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Impeachment with Prior Silence

Text: 20 During the cross-examination of Shavers, the prosecutor, over objection, asked him if he had told the FBI agent investigating the incident that Rolle had hit him with brass knuckles. 4 Shavers replied that he had not because he was advised not to talk to the agent. Appellant appeals the denial of his motion for a mistrial. 21 It is settled law that prosecutorial comment on a defendant's silence for substantive or impeachment value is constitutionally prohibited. United States v. Dixon, 593 F.2d 626, 628 (5th Cir.) cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 100 S.Ct. 126, 62 L.Ed.2d 82 (1979). The government does not dispute the fact that it referred to appellant's silence for purposes of impeachment. Rather, it argues that no error occurred because the record is unclear whether the questioning by the FBI agent was pre- or post-arrest; therefore it must be assumed that the interview occurred before appellant was placed under arrest and given Miranda warnings. According to the government, no error was then present because United States v. Hale, 422 U.S. 171, 95 S.Ct. 2133, 45 L.Ed.2d 99 (1975), and Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976), do not apply to pre-arrest situations. 22 The government has overlooked our recent decision in United States v. Henderson, 565 F.2d 900, 902 (5th Cir. 1978), in which we held: 23 The silence of an accused who has not been given a Miranda warning cannot be used against him to impeach his credibility, unless his silence is inconsistent with his innocence and inconsistent with his exculpatory statement given at the trial. Otherwise, it lacks significant probative value and carries with it an intolerable prejudicial impact. 24 565 F.2d at 905. See also United States ex rel. Allen v. Rowe, 591 F.2d 391, 399 (7th Cir. 1979); but cf. United States v. Serrano, 607 F.2d 1145 (5th Cir. 1979) (silence found to be totally inconsistent with defendants' claim of innocence). 25 As a fallback position, the government submits that the error was harmless because the evidence of guilt was overwhelming. To support its position it contends that three witnesses testified to the same sequence of events, while appellant's version was uncorroborated and frivolous. However, the forcefulness of this argument weakens when one considers that the undisputed evidence was that Rolle had recently beaten appellant and had previously threatened him and other co-workers; and further that the jury was at one point hopelessly deadlocked on a verdict. 5 26 Our standard for determining whether prosecutorial comment on defendant's silence for substantive or impeachment value is harmless has been somewhat uncertain. In Chapman v. United States, 547 F.2d 1240, 1249-50 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 908, 97 S.Ct. 1705, 52 L.Ed.2d 393 (1977), we attempted to harmonize our decisions concerning Doyle violations and the harmless error test by placing cases into three distinct categories. 6 27 Unfortunately, as was noted recently in United States v. Dixon, 593 F.2d 626 (5th Cir. 1979), many cases lie somewhere in between the categories discussed in Chapman. In such situations we must seek refuge in the case by case rule of United States v. Davis, 546 F.2d 583, 594-95 and n.31 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 906, 97 S.Ct. 1701, 52 L.Ed.2d 391 (1977). The decision requires an examination of the facts, the trial context of the error, and the prejudice created thereby as juxtaposed against the strength of the evidence of defendant's guilt. United States v. Meneses-Davila, 580 F.2d 888, 890 (5th Cir. 1978). 28 We have held that even a single reference on direct examination to defendant's silence carried an intolerably prejudicial impact, where the defendant's exculpatory story was not totally implausible and the government's inculpatory evidence was not overwhelming. United States v. Impson, 531 F.2d 274 (5th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1050, 98 S.Ct. 900, 54 L.Ed.2d 803 (1978). 29 The facts of the present case are closer to Impson than to United States v. Serrano, 607 F.2d 1145 (5th Cir. 1979), United States v. Dixon, 593 F.2d 626 (5th Cir. 1979), and Chapman v. United States, 547 F.2d 1240 (5th Cir. 1977), where the evidence against the defendants was much stronger and the prejudicial impact on the defendant was considerably lessened by actions by the trial judge. 30 Therefore, we hold that it was reversible error for the prosecutor to impeach appellant with his prior silence. See also United States v. Edwards, 576 F.2d 1152 (5th Cir. 1978).