Randolph v. State (Original)
Annotate this CaseDefendant testified to an alibi defense at the guilt phase of his aggravated robbery trial and then exercised his Fifth Amendment right not to testify at the punishment phase. The prosecutor, in her final punishment argument, stated that defendant was not worthy of probation because he had not taken responsibility for the crime. The court held that, by testifying that he was not the person who committed the aggravated robbery, defendant expressly denied responsibility for the crime. Therefore, the State was entitled to comment on that denial of responsibility at either the guilt or punishment stage. The State did not comment on defendant's failure to testify at the punishment case. The court also found that the was case distinguishable from Swallow v. State and declined the State's invitation to overrule Swallow. The court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals and remanded the case to that court to address defendant's remaining points of error.
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