Baltimore judge, prosecutor violated murder defendant’s right to remain silent at trial, appeals court finds

A Maryland appeals court reversed the murder conviction of a man serving life in prison for allegedly fatally stabbing his girlfriend in 2018, finding a city judge and prosecutor violated his constitutional rights at trial. When a prosecutor told jurors that 72-year-old Michael Maurice Allen Sr.’s decision to stop answering a detective’s questions about his girlfriend’s death suggested he was guilty, that amounted to a violation of his right to remain silent, the Court of Special Appeals wrote in an opinion published Tuesday.