Salinas V. Texas Essay

FactsTwo brothers were flavor and killed in their home. Police recovered shotgun shells that led them to investigate the suppliant. The wooer handed over his gun and agreed to go to the police target for questioning. The petitioner rooted all of the questions the police had, but when it came to the question about the shells interconnected the petitioners gun he went silent. So the police asked a few more questions to which the petitioner answered. The petitioner did not testify at the trial, so the prosecutor used his silence as evidence of guilt.adjective HistoryPetitioner was convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years. This was directly sent to the Texas show Court of Appeals who rejected the argument. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals took up the case and affirm the same judgment.IssueWas the petitioners Fifth Amendment right violate when prosecutors used his silence as evidence of guilt, when he was not in custody and had not had his Miranda rights read to him? Hold ing/ rein inNo, because the petitioner did not express that he wanted to invoke his license to stay silent, and not testify. ReasoningNeither of the two recognized exceptions to the magic urgency applies here. One is that a petitioner is not required to go for the stand and assert the privilege against self-incrimination at his own trial. The other is that a witness failure to invoke the privilege may be confession where government coercion made his forfeiture of the privilege involuntary. It is undisputed the petitioners interview with the police was voluntary. He admitted that he was free to pass along at any time, so nothing prevented him from saying he refused to answer the polices questions. The third exception was not even considered, because the requirement for this one would be the witness would remain silent and decline to agree an answer that the officerswould suspect incriminating.