C.A. 2nd;
B267280

The Second Appellate District affirmed a judgment. The court held that a defendant's due process rights were not violated by the prosecution's use of the defendant's post-Miranda silence to impeach his claims of having fully cooperated with the police.

Angry about a failed drug deal, Nathan Campbell drove his car onto the Venice Beach Boardwalk and plowed into 10 separate groups of people in close succession. One person was killed and 17 injured. Witnesses testified that Campbell accelerated and changed directions in order to hit people. Campbell turned himself in to police a few hours after fleeing the scene. He was tried before a jury on charges of murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and leaving the scene of an accident. Campbell testified at trial regarding his cooperation with police, stating he turned himself in, answered the questions of five officers, and “to the best of [his] ability…tried to explain” what happened. Over Campbell's objection, the prosecution rebutted that testimony by questioning him regarding his post-Miranda silence, pointing out that he stopped volunteering information once he was Mirandized. Campbell moved for a mistrial under Doyle v. Ohio (1976) 426 U.S. 610. The trial court denied the motion.