United States v. Thomas O. Robinson, JR. (485 U.S. 25)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 24, 1988 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 485 U.S. 25 · 108 S. Ct. 864
- Decided
- February 24, 1988
- Term
- October Term 1987
- Vote
- 5–3
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. During the course of respondent Robinson’s mail fraud trial in the Middle District of Tennessee, his counsel urged in closing argument that the Government had not allowed respondent to explain his side of the story. The prosecutor during his summation informed the jury that respondent “could have taken the stand and explained it to you. . . .” App. 27. We hold that the comment by the prosecutor did not violate respondent’s privilege to be free from compulsory self-incrimination guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Following a jury trial in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, respondent was convicted of two counts of mail fraud, 18 U. S. C. § 1341; both counts involved arson-related insurance claims. The evidence at trial showed that respondent leased a truck stop in Guthrie, Kentucky, in 1979. The business deteriorated over the next several months. Two days after respondent increased the insurance coverage on the truckstop an explosion and fire destroyed the premises. A number of unusual circumstances suggested arson. Respondent subsequently submitted an insurance claim of $80,000. Approximately one year later, respondent’s home in Clarksville, Tennessee, was badly damaged by arson an hour after respondent had departed for California in a large truck…
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