Paino Manuel Alvarez-Perdomo v. State of Alaska

Summary

The court held that compelling a criminal defendant to testify against his will violates the privilege against self-incrimination and constitutes structural error requiring automatic reversal. Because the error cannot be evaluated through harmless-error analysis, the court reversed the conviction and remanded for a new trial. The court also clarified that equivocal responses during the inquiry about whether a defendant will testify do not authorize a judge to compel testimony; instead, the trial must proceed without the defendant's testimony.