The Associated Press reported today:
The Supreme Court says prosecutors can use a person's silence against them if it comes before he's told of his right to remain silent.
The 5-4 ruling comes in the case of Genovevo Salinas, who was convicted of a 1992 murder. During police questioning, and before he was arrested or read his Miranda rights, Salinas answered some questions but did not answer when asked if a shotgun he had access to would match up with the murder weapon.
Prosecutors in Texas used his silence on that question in convicting him of murder, saying it helped demonstrate his guilt. Salinas appealed, saying his Fifth Amendment rights to stay silent should have kept lawyers from using his silence against him in court. Texas courts disagreed, saying pre-Miranda silence is not protected by the Constitution.
The high court upheld that decision.
So suppose the cops ask me my name and I reply honestly, then I fail to answer anything else. According to this decision (which likely won't be revisited for decades) I can be prosecuted based on my remaining silent and Miranda be damned.
Anyone see a problem with this? Anyone see a remedy? Do I fail to give them my name and be arrested for failure to cooperate? Is failing to give them my name, when clearly I know my name, prosecutable because I attempted to deceive an officer of the law?
Where does this lead us?