State v. Godfrey

¶ 1 Tracey Raymond Godfrey appeals from the jury verdict, judgment, and sentence of the Twenty-first Judicial District, Ravalli County, in which he was convicted of one count of Felony Sexual Assault. We affirm.

ISSUE

¶2 We restate the issue as follows: Should this Court invoke the common law doctrine of plain error and conclude that the prosecutor violated Godfrey’s Constitutional right to due process by commenting during trial on his pre-trial silence?

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶3 In the summer of 1999, S.M. and her five children returned to Montana after living out of state for a few…