Court Opinion

ID: 9470232
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:00:06.465744+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:47.477567
License: Public Domain

FLETCHER, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I concur in the result. I further concur in all parts of the opinion of the majority, except Part V, with which I agree as to result only. I write separately simply to emphasize what the record and facts of the case before us do and do not permit us to decide this day with regard to the propriety of the use of pretrial silence to impeach a defendant who takes the stand in his own defense.
In Part V of the opinion, the majority concludes that in the “absence of the sort of affirmative assurances embodied in the Miranda warnings,” Fletcher v. Weir, 455 U.S. 603, 102 S.Ct. 1309, 71 L.Ed.2d 490 (1982), cross-examination of the defendant as to prior silence does not violate the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. The majority states that “[t]he record does not indicate, nor does Greene argue, that he received Miranda warnings.” Maj. op. at 1374. The record, in fact, fails to indicate that Greene received any affirmative governmental assurances whatsoever, either Miranda warnings or some other variety of governmental promises or representations conveying the sort of affirmative assurances that are embodied in the Miranda warnings. Faced with this record, the most that we can hold is that we have no basis to reverse for an alleged violation of due process. We do not today, indeed cannot, reach *1376the question of whether communications such as literature prepared by, verbal explanations by, or correspondence from governmental agents that explicitly or implicitly promise protection for silence, similar to Miranda warnings, may constitute the affirmative assurances that prevent cross-examination of the defendant as to silence accompanying or following such assurances.
Not only does the barren record before us prevent us from concluding that cross-examination of the defendant as to his prior silence was improper because it accompanied his receipt of governmental assurances, but it also prevents us from determining whether the circumstances surrounding the defendant’s silence, even in the absence of governmental assurances, make admission of evidence of the silence a violation of federal evidentiary rules.1
Under the doctrine of United States v. Hale, a district court abuses its discretion in refusing to exclude cross-examination as to prior silence whenever the silence is not “sufficiently probative of an inconsistency with [the defendant’s] in-court testimony to warrant admission of evidence” of the silence.2 422 U.S. 171, 180, 95 S.Ct. 2133, 2138, 45 L.Ed.2d 99 (1975); see Jenkins, 447 U.S. 231, 239, 100 S.Ct. 2124, 2129, 65 L.Ed.2d 86 (1980); Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 617 n. 8, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 2244 n. 8, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976).
Despite the importance of excluding the often prejudicial, rarely probative evidence *1377of silence to ensure a fair trial, Hale, 422 U.S. at 180, 95 S.Ct. at 2138, the record below is devoid of any objection based on federal evidentiary rules to the government’s comment on defendant’s silence.3 Nor does defendant raise a nonconstitutional federal evidentiary argument on this appeal. Thus, the trial court had no opportunity to exercise its discretion to evaluate the possible reasons for such silence and to decide on its admissibility, and we have no opportunity to review a challenge to such a discretionary decision had it been made on this appeal. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b).

. In Jenkins v. Anderson, 447 U.S. 231, 100 S.Ct. 2124, 65 L.Ed.2d 86 (1980), a case relied on heavily by the majority, the court stated quite emphatically that where the issue is raised a federal court properly exercising its authority must test the admissibility of prior silence to impeach in-court testimony of a defendant under both constitutional and evidentiary standards. As the Jenkins court carefully explained, “[ejach jurisdiction may formulate its own rules of evidence to determine when prior silence is so inconsistent with present statements that impeachment by reference to such silence is probative.” 447 U.S. at 239, 100 S.Ct. at 2129. Consequently, while a state court decision to permit use of silence can be reviewed only for alleged constitutional error, since that decision is otherwise solely “a question of state evidentiary law,” Jenkins, 447 U.S. at 239 n. 5, 100 S.Ct. at 2130 n. 5, we must review the decision to allow the use of silence in a federal criminal proceeding under both constitutional guidelines and federal evidentiary rules, since the “relevance of such silence, of course, would be a matter of federal law,” id. In the exercise of our supervisory authority over the lower federal courts, we must reverse where the trial judge abuses his discretion in finding that the probative value of the defendant’s silence outweighed any prejudicial impact, even if no constitutional violation is implicated.
In making such a determination under federal evidentiary rules, we must not lose sight of the fact that such Supreme Court cases as Fletcher and Jenkins that originated in state court trials merely sanction the use of prior silence for impeachment purposes where the silence has been duly held admissible under state evidentiary rules by the highest court of the state. They shed no light on the admissibility of silence in a federal court under federal evidentiary rules.

. The Hale case itself makes clear that “[i]n most circumstances silence is so ambiguous that it is of little probative force.” 422 U.S. at 176, 95 S.Ct. at 2136. A failure to state a fact on one occasion is probative of the credibility of a later statement only if offering an explanation, rather than silence, would have been the only “natural” human response. Id.; see Jenkins, 447 U.S. at 239, 100 S.Ct. at 2129.
Under the principles of Hale and Grunewald v. United States, 353 U.S. 391, 77 S.Ct. 963, 1 L.Ed.2d 931 (1957), federal evidentiary rules prevent impeachment of an exculpatory story by prior silence where an explanation for the silence, other than lack of an exculpatory story, is possible. Hale holds that where the defendant is “particularly aware of his right to remain silent and the fact that anything he said could be used against him,” speaking — rather than remaining silent — was not the only natural response under the circumstances. 422 U.S. at 177, 95 S.Ct. at 2137. Hence, the prior silence is inadmissible since the prior silence is simply not sufficiently probative of the credibility of the defendant’s later testimony. Id. at 177, 180, 95 S.Ct. at 2137, 2138. Similarly, Grünewald holds that where a defendant, appearing before a grand jury, fears that he is “being asked questions for the very purpose of providing evidence against himself” and has no assistance of counsel or opportunity for cross-examination to bring out “exculpatory circumstances,” speaking is not the only natural response. 353 U.S. at 423, 77 S.Ct. at 983. The silence is thus not sufficiently probative to justify its admission under federal evidentiary rules. 353 U.S. at 424, 77 S.Ct. at 984. See also Stewart v. U.S., 366 U.S. 1 at 6-7, 81 S.Ct. 941 at 943-944, 6 L.Ed.2d 84 (silence inadmissible where not necessarily inconsistent with later testimony).
While the Hale defendant had been given Miranda warnings prior to his silence, the con*1377elusion that speaking rather than silence was not the only “natural” response under the circumstances rested not on the government’s giving of assurances per se but on the likelihood that, because of those assurances, the defendant’s silence was for reasons other than lack of an exculpatory story. The government must establish as a threshold matter an inconsistency between the prior silence and the later exculpatory testimony offered at trial before proof of silence may be admitted. 422 U.S. at 176, 95 S.Ct. at 2136. Since in Hale the possibility of the defendant’s reliance on the right to remain silent prevented a finding of necessary inconsistency, the proof of silence in Hale “lacked any significant probative value” and had to be excluded. 422 U.S. at 180, 95 S.Ct. at 2138. Hence, Hale reasonably supports the principle that, regardless of whether Miranda warnings were given, federal evidentiary rules preclude proof of prior silence where the circumstances viewed in totality do not support a finding that a defendant was silent on a previous occasion solely because he had no exculpatory statement to put forward at the time of the silence. The silence is simply insufficiently probative, when weighed against its prejudice, to be admitted under the federal evidentiary rules.
This conclusion is bolstered by the discussion in Hale of various factors apart from a lack of an exculpatory story that could cause a defendant to be silent, including confusion, fear, a desire to protect others, and emotional hostility. 422 U.S. at 177, 95 S.Ct. at 2137. If the Hale court had intended that the determination of the probative value of silence — and hence the propriety of admission of proof of silence under the federal evidentiary rules — were to rest solely on the absence or presence of government-given Miranda warnings before the silence took place, the court would have had no occasion to discuss the other factors. See Doyle, 426 U.S. at 617 n. 8, 96 S.Ct. at 2244 n. 8 (discussing Hale); cf. Grunewald, 353 U.S. at 424, 77 S.Ct. at 984 (prior silence is inadmissible even where Miranda warnings have not been given where the circumstances show that the silence lacks significant probative value); Stewart, 366 U.S. at 6-7, 81 S.Ct. at 943-944 (same).

. Since the defendant is the one seeking to suppress evidence of prior silence, it is his obligation to object to the government’s attempt to introduce such evidence. However, once the objection has been raised, under the federal rules of evidence, the government has the burden to establish the probative value of prior silence. Hale, 422 U.S. at 176, 95 S.Ct. at 2136 (“If the Government fails to establish a threshold inconsistency between silence ... and later exculpatory testimony at trial, proof of silence lacks any significant probative value and must therefore be excluded.”) (emphasis added).
Greene’s counsel at one point did object to cross-examination of the defendant as to his attorney’s silence at an IRS conference on the ground of “relevancy.” After the prosecutor asserted that such prior silence was relevant since it showed the Liechtenstein bank account defense had not been raised until after trial had begun, Greene’s counsel did not renew an objection based on nonconstitutional federal evidentiary rules but rather objected, albeit erroneously, solely on the ground that the constitution absolutely barred introduction of such evidence.