Opinion ID: 508542
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Prosecutor's Comments in Closing Argument

Text: 25 In the rebuttal portion of closing argument the prosecutor referred to the fact that neither Charles Wood's wife nor Terry Wood's girlfriend had been called to testify. These comments referred to Kibby's testimony that Mrs. Wood went with her husband to Florida in August of 1985 and that Terry Wood's girlfriend was with him when Kibby delivered cocaine to him in January of 1985. Upon the completion of the prosecutor's closing argument, the defendants objected to the comments and requested a mistrial. The court denied the request. The defendants did not at that time ask that a cautionary instruction be given to the jury. 26 The defendants claim that these comments were references to the failure of the defendants to testify. While it is well established that a direct comment by the prosecutor upon a defendant's failure to testify violates his fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination, Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 615, 85 S.Ct. 1229, 1233, 14 L.Ed.2d 106 (1965), the statements were not such as to lead the jury to construe them as a comment on the defendants' silence. In addition, the court instructed the jury, immediately following the closing argument, that the defendants had no duty to produce evidence. Therefore, we find the court properly denied the defendants' motion for a mistrial.