References to the Defendant's Assertion of Miranda Rights

Sometimes the state wants to introduce evidence that the defendant invoked his right to remain silent or his right to counsel under Miranda. If the prosecution's purpose is simply to imply the defendant's guilt, we know that's improper from Miranda itself: “In accord with our decision today, it is impermissible to penalize an individual for exercising his Fifth Amendment privilege when he is under police custodial interrogation. The prosecution may not, therefore, use at trial the fact that he stood mute or claimed his privilege in the face of accusation.” Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). But the state may argue that the circumstances of a particular case justify the introduction of evidence about the defendant's assertion of his Miranda rights. For example, if a defendant testifies to an exculpatory version of events, the state may wish to ask him why, if his trial testimony is true, he didn’t tell officers his exculpatory version of events. Or, the state may want to establish that the investigating officer was thorough and left no stone unturned. ("Officer, did you ask the defendant for his version of events?" "Yes, I did, but he asserted his constitutional right to remain silent so we pursued other avenues of investigation.") Similarly, the state may want to explain how it came to get a partial statement from a defendant. ("The defendant admitted that he got into a fight with the victim." "But did he admit that he stabbed the victim during the fight?" "No. When I asked [...]