Brickbat: Say What?

The California Supreme Court
has ruled that what you don’t say can be used
against you. The court reinstated the manslaughter conviction
of Richard Tom, who killed an 8-year-old girl and injured her
mother and sister in an automobile accident. Prosecutors had told
jurors during his trial that his failure to ask about the condition
of the family he hit, before he was read his Miranda rights, was
proof of his guilt. In a divided opinion, the court ruled that a
suspect must explicitly assert his Fifth Amendment right not to
incriminate himself for his silence to be inadmissible in
court.