Your Right To Testify Or To Remain Silent

The decision to testify in your defense is one of the toughest calls for a client or a criminal defense attorney to make. That choice is illustrated by a murder case that happened in Shelbyville,Tennessee. Ashley Cook did not testify in her first murder trial and the jury could not decide the case which resulted in a hung verdict. In the retrial, Ms Cook testified and the jury returned a guilty verdict after a short deliberation. The jury was impaneled in Lynchburg,Tennessee due to pretrial publicity. It appears Ms. Cook was caught in a lie during redirect examination. The teaching point is Twofold. First , always tell the truth. Second, think long and hard about the risks and rewards of testifying. You have a right not to testify and the jury can not put any weight in your decision not to testify.