NEW YORK, NY November 14, 2006 —You have the right to remain silent may no longer be the case in New Jersey. Later today, the state Supreme Court hears oral arguments on when silence isn't necessarily protected. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

Before the state's highest court today are three cases in which the defendants claim their invoking their right to remain silent was used unconstitutionally by prosecutors.

In one of the cases a man accused of killing his mother in 2000 told police he took her to the supermarket a few days before she was murdered. Police subsequently learned he had also taken her to the bank to withdraw money. Prosecutors used the defendant's initial omission of the bank trip to build a case against him with the jury that ultimately convicted him of murder. Last year a state appeals court overturned that verdict on the grounds that the defendant's right's against self-incrimination had been violated.

Legal experts say the three cases involving self incrimination, present divergent fact patterns but offer the court a chance to define just how universal is the right to remain silent.

For WNYC, I’m Bob Hennelly.