David Meadows v. Carl Legursky, Sam Blackburn Acord v. Jerry Hedrick

In both the consolidated cases of Acord v. Hedrick and Meadows v. Legursky, I am constrained to dissent. I turn my attention first to Acord v. Hedrick.

I

The case would present a comedy of errors except for the fact that it is no comedy but rather a tragedy. Acord was tried, from June 9 to June 13, 1983, for aggravated sexual assault, being convicted on the latter date. At the trial, a private prosecutor, who was aiding the public official, attacked Acord’s post-arrest silence. Acord had held his peace in two interrelated ways: (1) he said he did not know anything about the crime and (2) he…