State v. Tatem

The defendant, Darnell Tatem, was convicted after a trial to the jury of two counts of sexual assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-70 (a).1 Tatem did not testify at the trial. On appeal, the defendant claims error in the trial court’s instructions to the jury on General Statutes § 54-84 (b).2 That statute provides in relevant part that “[u]nless the accused requests otherwise, the court shall instruct the jury that they may draw no unfavorable inferences from the accused’s failure to testify. ...” Because we find error in the trial court’s jury instructions, we…