Court Case Number 202: First Degree Murder

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No. 202. Argued March 9, 1965. Decided April 28, 1965. Facts: In 1964 Edward Dean Griffin was brought before a court, convicted and tried for the crime of first degree murder. Griffin had been invited to the apartment of Essie Hodson and her boyfriend Eddie Seay. After all three had went to bed Seay woke up to find Griffin and Hodson struggling. Hodson claimed that Griffin had tried to force her into unwanted sex. Seay locked Griffin out of the apartment. However, Griffin broke back in and hit Seay in the head. Seay went to a nearby bar to get help and when he returned neither Hodson nor Griffin were there. The next morning, a witness saw Griffin coming out of a large trash bin in a nearby alley and noted that Griffin was adjusting his pants. The witness found Essie Hodson in the trash bin. She was bleeding and in shock. Hodson passed away the next day at a local hospital from the injuries sustained from the violent attack. Griffin was tried for the first degree murder of Essie Hodson. During trial, Griffin refused to take the stand and testify. Both the judge and the district attorney commented about Griffins silence to the jury stating: “As to any evidence or facts against him which the defendant can reasonably be expected to deny or explain because of facts within his knowledge, if he does not testify or if, though he does testify, he fails to deny or explain such evidence, the jury may take that failure into consideration as tending to indicate the truth of such evidence and as indicating that among the inferences that may be reasonably drawn therefrom those unfavorable to the defendant are the more probable." The Prosecutor also added, "These things he has not seen fit to take the stand and deny or explain and in the whol... ... middle of paper ... ...ffin v California made many important changes to American law and sat forth standards for the right to due process. The Supreme Court had already made it a law that a defendant must have the right to remain silent during legal proceedings, but now they were putting it in effect. Justice Douglas ruled that negative implications toward a defendant would be like penalizing him for exercising his own rights and this will not stand. The case proved to the citizens of America the Supreme Court was intent upon giving each and every person who found himself/herself in front of the court to have a fair trial. It also proved to potential jurors that if a defendant stays silent during trial it only means he is exercising his rights. It is not a proclamation of knowing his rights and using them rather than of his guilt. This precedent had never been so prominent to the public.

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