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Commonwealth v. Thompson

Citations

  • 431 Mass. 108
  • 725 N.E.2d 556
  • 2000 Mass. LEXIS 160

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

  • concluding that where the defendant does not testify, federal constitution prohibits the prosecution from eliciting testimony during its case in chief regarding the defendant’s pre-arrest, pre-Miranda silence
  • determining defendant’s prearrest silence, blank stares and failure to inquire about his wife’s murder properly excluded as evidence of consciousness of guilt
  • testimony regarding defendant’s “action of staring at the floor should not have been admitted for purposes of proving consciousness of guilt”
  • proper for prosecutor to comment on defendant’s failure to ask appropriate questions during custodial interrogation following waiver of Miranda rights
  • sufficient evidence where defendant assumed victim “had been stabbed even though he had not been informed of the circumstances of [the victim’s] death”
  • defendant’s silence in response to police questioning should not have been admitted, even where defendant not in custody at time of questioning

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Ireland

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

37 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Cites

31 cases in this archive are cited by this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Other cases with this name

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.