Simpson v. State

It is well understood that the federal and Maryland constitutions prohibit the prosecutor in a criminal case from making an adverse comment upon the defendant’s failure to testify. Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 85 S.Ct. 1229, 14 L.Ed.2d 106 (1965) (holding that the prosecutor’s comment during closing argument concerning the defendant’s failure to testify violated the Self-Incrimination Clause of the Fifth Amendment); Smith v. State, 367 Md. 348, 358, 787 A.2d 152 (2001) (holding that the prosecutor’s comment during closing argument violated Article 22 of the Maryland Declaration of…