Yeah. In criminal trials the jury instructions will include something to that effect. "The Defendant has chosen not to testify. This is normal, and you cannot c

Yeah. In criminal trials the jury instructions will include something to that effect. "The Defendant has chosen not to testify. This is normal, and you cannot consider that lack of testimony as evidence of guilt." We know that jurors will often still make negative inferences in their head. We can't do a thing about that. But not all of them. Jury instructions carry weight. So the jury instructions would be pretty powerful if the judge said, "You should consider the lack of bodycam footage as beneficial to the Defendant. You may reasonably find that the accused's testimony is more credible than the officer's during those 17 minutes."