Commonwealth v. Hinckley

The defendant refused to turn over his sneakers *262to the Commonwealth in the course of a criminal investigation. Evidence of this refusal was admitted at his trial. We now decide in accordance with our prior decisions that the admission of this refusal evidence violated the defendant’s State constitutional privilege against self-incrimination and that his failure to object to the admission at trial does not preclude his raising the issue on appeal before his convictions become final. Accordingly, we reverse the judgments of the Superior Court and remand for a new trial.

I

On November 20, 1991, a…