State v. Muhammad

A suspect has a right to remain silent while in police custody or under official interrogation, in accordance with his state law privilege against self-incrimination. In this ease, we reaffirm that a suspect’s silence while in custody, under interrogation, or “at or near” the time of his arrest cannot be used against him in a criminal trial. We agree with the Appellate Division that the prosecutor’s improper use of defendant’s pre-arrest silence as evidence of guilt requires the reversal of his conviction of criminal sexual contact. We disagree, however, with the appellate panel’s conclusion…