State v. Brown

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

The defendants, James Brown and Ronald Emm, became involved in an apparent driving contest that resulted in Brown’s car striking a third vehicle, killing its driver. Both defendants were indicted for death by auto, tried jointly, and convicted. On a post-verdict motion, the trial court held that the defendants had been prejudiced by their joint trial because their defenses were in conflict. The court found further that this prejudice was exacerbated by the erroneous admission of Emm’s pre-arrest silence, the jury’s inability to evaluate the…