State v. Lindsey, 60816
Decision Date | 13 February 1979 |
Docket Number | No. 60816,60816 |
Citation | 578 S.W.2d 903 |
Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Jack LINDSEY, Appellant. |
Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
James J. Knappenberger, Shaw, Howlett & Schwartz, Clayton, for appellant.
John D. Ashcroft, Atty. Gen., Paul Robert Otto, Katherine M. Krause, Asst. Attys. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.
Appellant, Jack Lindsey, was convicted in the Circuit Court of St. Charles County, Missouri, of selling a controlled substance (§ 195.020, RSMo 1969), and his punishment was assessed at imprisonment for a term of twenty years. Following rendition of judgment and imposition of sentence, an appeal was perfected to the Eastern District of the Court of Appeals. The case was transferred to this Court, after opinion, by order of this Court. We decide the case here the same as on original appeal. Mo.Const. Art. V, § 10.
At trial, the following transpired on voir dire of the jury by the Assistant Prosecuting Attorney:
(Emphasis ours.)
Appellant's request for mistrial was considered by the court and denied. Appellant subsequently took the stand and testified.
Article I, § 19 of the Missouri Constitution provides, in part, "That no person shall be compelled to testify against himself in a criminal cause, . . ." This language prohibits not only comments on the failure of a defendant to testify (see § 546.270, RSMo 1969, and Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 85 S.Ct. 1229, 14 L.Ed.2d 106 (1964)), but also comments which have the effect of compelling a defendant to testify. The use of language which has either effect must be condemned. "The effect of the remarks must have been either to coerce the defendant to testify, as has been said, 'with a halter about his neck,' or to induce him to remain silent, with knowledge that the jury had been challenged in the outset to observe whether or not he would go upon the stand under the goad of the prosecutor's statement." Coleman v. State, 111 Ind. 563, 13 N.E. 100, 101 (1887).
We believe and hold that the italicized language used by the Assistant Prosecuting Attorney was of such character that the jury would naturally and necessarily be influenced so as to deny appellant a fair trial. Conduct which naturally and necessarily has the effect of denying an accused a fair trial can never be harmless.
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State v. Lemon
...Guenther, 188 Mich. App. 174, 179, 469 N.W.2d 59 (1991), leave to appeal denied, 439 Mich. 945, 482 N.W.2d 723 (1992); State v. Lindsey, 578 S.W.2d 903, 904 (Mo. 1979); State v. Wiman, 236 Mont. 180, 185, 769 P.2d 1200 (1989); Barron v. State, 105 Nev. 767, 779, 783 P.2d 444 (1989); State v......
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Simpson v. State
...because the questions challenged Hazel to testify “or to face ... possible negative implications [.]” Id. at 139 (citing State v. Lindsey, 578 S.W.2d 903, 904 (Mo.1979)). The prosecutor's questions effectively removed Hazel's right to the presumption of innocence by asking the jury to consi......
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S.A.J. v. State
...concerning a defendant's failure to testify mandated reversal. See Marston v. State, 136 So.3d 563, 570 (Fla.2014) ; State v. Lindsey, 578 S.W.2d 903, 904 (Mo.1979). We note, however, that unlike Texas and Oklahoma both Florida and Missouri apply a more liberal rule for determining whether ......
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...or not he would go upon the stand, under the goad of the prosecutor's statement. Id. at 566, 13 N.E. at 101. See, also, State v. Lindsey, 578 S.W.2d 903 (Mo.1979) (prosecutor's statement in opening, " 'Mr. Lindsey doesn't have to go forward with any evidence if he doesn't wish to. He doesn'......