Tehan v. United States Ex Rel. Shott

1965-11-15

Headline: Limits retroactivity of rule banning prosecutors’ comments about defendants’ silence, blocking widespread reopening of past convictions and preventing mass relief for people convicted under older state rules.

Holding: The Court held that the Griffin rule banning comment on a defendant’s silence does not require retroactive application to convictions final before April 28, 1965, so it refused broad reopening of those past cases.

Real World Impact:

Prevents mass reopening of final convictions in states that allowed comment on silence.
Leaves many older convictions intact despite Griffin’s new rule.
Sends the case back to the appeals court to review remaining federal claims.

Topics: right to remain silent, retroactivity of new rules, prosecutor comments, past criminal convictions

Summary

Background

A man was tried in an Ohio court for violating the Ohio Securities Act and did not testify. During closing argument the prosecutor commented on his silence. He was convicted, state appeals courts affirmed, and the Supreme Court denied review in 1963. After that denial he asked a federal court to review his conviction (a habeas corpus petition), which was dismissed, and the Sixth Circuit later reversed after the Court’s decisions in Malloy and Griffin.

Reasoning

The Justices considered whether the Griffin rule — which bans comment by prosecutors or judges about a defendant’s silence — must be applied to convictions that were already final before Griffin (April 28, 1965). The Court reviewed long-standing earlier decisions (especially Twining) showing decades of contrary authority, weighed the purpose of the Griffin rule, and examined how states had relied on the earlier rule. The majority concluded that because states had relied on the old rule for many years and because retroactive application would seriously disrupt criminal justice administration, Griffin need not be applied retroactively. The Court therefore vacated the lower judgment and sent the case back to the Sixth Circuit to consider the other claims in the federal review request.

Real world impact

The ruling prevents automatic reopening of many older convictions in states that previously allowed comment on a defendant’s silence, including California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Ohio. The decision leaves intact many final convictions and directs lower courts to address other federal challenges case by case.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Black, joined by Justice Douglas, dissented, expressing disagreement with the majority for reasons similar to his dissent in Linkletter.