State v. Zeko

In this case, we are called upon to decide a single issue, important to the administration and supervision of criminal justice in this state: whether a mistrial should be declared when the prosecution in a criminal case utilizes a rebuttal witness for impeachment purposes to show that the defendant had remained silent following his arrest, after the defendant had testified on cross-examination that he had cooperated with police and given them “everything” they had sought in relation to an arson investigation.

The defendant was convicted by a jury of committing the offense of arson in the third…