Court Opinion

ID: 9663208
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:31:50.49396+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:46.743891
License: Public Domain

M. F. Cavanagh, J.
(dissenting). I dissent from the majority’s conclusion that the numerous errors which occurred during the trial below do not mandate reversal and a new trial.
Statements made before Miranda warnings were given were the product of custodial interrogation and should have been suppressed. Reference to statements that were conceded to be inadmissible thereafter was improper and constituted reversible error. The elicitation of information regarding the *212defendant’s silence in the face of an accusation constituted reversible error. The overzealousness of the prosecutor and his chief witness denied defendant a fair trial and mandates reversal. Error also occurred in the admission of . the police dispatch tape. I am also persuaded that error occurred in allowing the jury to draw negative inferences from the testimony of the dog handlers as to the inability of their dogs to pick up a scent.
Even if my brothers are deemed to be correct in their assessment of the character of the foregoing errors individually, I am still persuaded that the cumulative effect of the complained-of errors mandates reversal and a new trial.