California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Grey, B290119 (Cal. App. 2019):
"[T]he Fifth Amendment . . . forbids either comment by the prosecution on the accused's silence or instructions by the court that such silence is evidence of guilt." (Griffin, supra, 380 U.S. at p. 615.) "[C]omment on the refusal to testify is a remnant of the 'inquisitorial system of criminal justice' . . . , which the Fifth Amendment outlaws." (Id. at p. 614, internal citation omitted.) "It is well established, however, that the [Griffin] rule . . . does not extend to comments on the state of the evidence, or on the failure of the defense to introduce material evidence or to call logical witnesses." (People v. Medina (1995) 11 Cal.4th 694, 755, italics added.)
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