State v. Ruocco

Summary

The court affirmed the Appellate Court's reversal of the defendant's convictions because the trial court completely omitted the statutorily required instruction that the jury could draw no unfavorable inference from the defendant's failure to testify. Although the defendant did not object, the omission was reviewable under the plain error doctrine, and the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the constitutional instructional error was harmless. The court declined to decide whether a total omission of the instruction can ever be harmless.