People v. Shafier

743 N.W.2d 742, 277 Mich. App. 137
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 30, 2007
DocketDocket No. 267192
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 743 N.W.2d 742 (People v. Shafier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Shafier, 743 N.W.2d 742, 277 Mich. App. 137 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

SCHUETTE, PJ.

Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of two counts of second-degree criminal [138]*138sexual conduct, MCL 750.520c(l)(b) (victim between 13 and 16 years of age and actor related to victim by affinity). Defendant was sentenced to 71 to 180 months’ imprisonment. Defendant now appeals as of right. Although the prosecutor erroneously commented at trial about defendant’s post -Miranda1 silence, we conclude that defendant has failed to show that his substantial rights were affected by the error. Therefore, we affirm.

I. FACTS

Defendant and his wife adopted the victim and her three biological sisters in 1995, when the victim was approximately four years old. In this tragic case, the victim testified that defendant sexually assaulted her on a daily basis from July 3, 2004, through January 2, 2005. She claimed that defendant initiated the abuse by touching her on the exterior of her clothing and kissing her. However, the abuse progressed to direct touching by defendant of the victim’s breasts, buttocks, and vagina, and the victim indicated that defendant eventually performed oral sex on her and that she performed the same on him. At the time of the sexual assault, the victim was 13 years old.

When asked to recall the details of any specific instance of abuse, the victim had a hard time doing so. However, she did recall that one of her sisters walked into the room on one occasion when defendant was performing oral sex on her, and she relayed a variety of specific details of this alleged incident. But at the time of her January 3, 2004, forensic interview, the victim claimed that defendant touched her on two occasions and she did not report that the abuse included oral sex.

[139]*139One of the victim’s sisters testified that she walked in on defendant and the victim when they were standing close to each other, as if they had been kissing. She also testified that defendant sexually abused her during a two-year period, when she was 11 to 13 years of age. Another of the victim’s sisters testified that she observed defendant performing oral sex on the victim. Defendant took the stand in his defense and denied touching the victim or any of his other daughters inappropriately.

The jury announced that they were deadlocked after just two hours of deliberation. The trial court instructed them to continue to deliberate. On the second day of deliberations, the jury acquitted defendant of three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, MCL 750.520b, but convicted him of two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Defendant now appeals.

II. PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT

Defendant’s sole claim on appeal is that the prosecutor’s repeated reference to his silence at the time of his arrest was error requiring reversal. We disagree.

A. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review defendant’s unpreserved claim of constitutional error for plain error affecting his substantial rights. People v Carines, 460 Mich 750, 763; 597 NW2d 130 (1999).

B. ANALYSIS

Caselaw is clear that, under certain circumstances, prosecutorial comment on a criminal defendant’s exercise of the constitutional right to remain silent in the [140]*140face of accusation violates his Fourteenth Amendment2 right to due process. Doyle v Ohio, 426 US 610, 618-619; 96 S Ct 2240; 49 L Ed 2d 91 (1976); People v Dennis, 464 Mich 567, 573-574; 628 NW2d 502 (2001); People v Sain, 407 Mich 412, 415-416; 285 NW2d 772 (1979); People v Bobo, 390 Mich 355, 359; 212 NW2d 190 (1973). With very limited exceptions,3 a defendant’s silence after he or she has been informed of his or her right to remain silent under Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436, 444; 86 S Ct 1602; 16 L Ed 2d 694 (1966), may not be used as evidence against him or her because “Miranda warnings carry an implicit assurance that silence in reliance on those warnings will not be penalized.” Dennis, supra at 574. Here, the record is unambiguous with regard to the timing of defendant’s silence because the arresting officer testified that he immediately informed defendant of his Miranda rights at the time of his arrest. Therefore, the prosecutor’s use of the evidence of defendant’s post -Miranda silence for impeachment purposes and as substantive evidence of his guilt in the prosecutor’s case-in-chief presents a constitutional question. People v Alexander, 188 Mich App 96, 104-105; 469 NW2d 10 (1991). While a single, inadvertent reference to post -Miranda silence may not amount to constitutional error, deliberate “use” of this evidence against a defendant does. Dennis, supra at 579-580.

In this case, the prosecutor’s references to defendant’s silence were not inadvertent and they were numerous. The prosecutor specifically inquired about defendant’s silence during his case-in-chief. The pros[141]*141ecutor followed up on the statement of the arresting officer that defendant made no comment at the time of his arrest by asking the following question: “So he never made any statement to you. He was fully aware of what you were arresting him for?” On cross-examination, the arresting officer acknowledged that he followed the instruction of the detective in charge of defendant’s case not to question defendant. On redirect examination, the arresting officer and the prosecutor engaged in the following exchange:

Q. [Y]ou didn’t interview the defendant, but he didn’t make any statements about the CSC charge, did he?
A. No, he did not.
Q. Never asked you about it?
A. No, he did not.

On cross-examination of defendant, the prosecutor asked him why he did not speak to the arresting officer about the criminal sexual conduct allegations:

Q. But yet you didn’t say a single word about being arrested for criminal sexual conduct. Is that right?
A. When I got to the police station—
Q. Yes or no. Is that right?
A. Yes.

The prosecutor asked a pair of questions regarding whether defendant went to the police or to child protective services officials to declare his innocence following his arrest. The trial court sustained defense counsel’s objection to the first of these questions without asking him to state a basis for the objection. When defense counsel objected to the second question, he stated that the question violated the attorney-client privilege. Following a bench conference, which was not recorded, the prosecutor moved on to a different line of questioning.

[142]*142Additionally, during closing arguments, the prosecutor harkened back to the testimony. Significantly, defense counsel did not object to the prosecutor’s closing argument. The prosecutor stated that “this case is about many lies” and argued that defendant’s lies began at the time of his arrest.

What we heard is that the defendant made no statements. We heard that he didn’t ask Officer LaBonte any questions.

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Related

People v. Shafier
768 N.W.2d 305 (Michigan Supreme Court, 2009)
People v. Shafier
743 N.W.2d 742 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 2008)

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743 N.W.2d 742, 277 Mich. App. 137, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-shafier-michctapp-2007.