United States v. Robert E. Helina

I respectfully dissent.

Our court has unequivocally held that it is constitutionally impermissible for the prosecution to use against an accused his pretrial silence, maintained in the exercise of his privilege against incrimination, unless the accused waives that privilege by offering “any testimony as to the contents of any conversation” at the relevant time in question. Fowle v. United States, 410 F.2d 48, 55 (9th Cir. 1969). The present case is controlled by Fowle. Accordingly, Helina’s conviction should be reversed if the District Court erroneously allowed the prosecution to question…