Pro Se Defendant Waived Right Against Self Incrimination By Her Unsworn Statements to the Jury

State v. Tayari-Garrett, Minn.Ct.App., 1/13/2014.  The trial court held Ms. Tayari-Garrett in constructive contempt; this entitled  her to a trial by jury.  When this trial occurred, Ms. Tayari-Garret acted as her own attorney.  She did not take the witness stand, be sworn and be subject to cross examination.  Instead, she hit upon the idea of telling the jury in her opening and closing arguments and in her questioning of the the state’s witnesses “facts” for which there was no “evidence “ – sworn testimony subject to cross examination.  In turn, the prosecutor told the jury that the statements of the lawyers were not “evidence” and could not be considered.

Ms. Tayari-Garrett complained that these observations amounted to prosecutorial misconduct: commenting on her Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination.  The court of appeals disagrees with this assertion, concluding that a pro se defendant may effectively waive her Fifth Amendment protection by testifying while not under oath to matters not properly in evidence.

Ms. Tayari-Garrett made various and sundry other arguments on appeal, all of which the appellate court rejected.