Right to Remain Silent: Case Study

20 Year Sentence Upheld By The Kentucky Supreme Court

On December 19^th, 2019, the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Ronald Bullitt, Jr. and his 20-year sentence on the charge of first-degree rape.  The case comes out of Jefferson County. This is a case about the right to remain silent when being questioned by the police.  In this case Mr. Bullit didn’t actually state that he wanted to assert his constitutional right to remain silent during questioning.  Instead he said to the police, “if I’m going to jail, I’m saying, let’s go, you know that’s all I’m saying, sir.  I’m innocent, I’m innocent.”   Mr. Bullitt claimed that these words were the same as stating his desire to invoke his constitutional right to remain silent under the fifth amendment to the U.S. constitution.  The Kentucky Supreme Court disagreed and held that Mr. Bullitt’s words were not a clear invocation of his right to remain silent.  The Supreme Court held that a person must clearly communicate to the officer the he wants to remain silent or that he does not want to answer the questions of the police.