Carlos Ruiz and Yaritza Delacruz are tried jointly for heroin trafficking based on evidence from an apartment they shared as romantic partners. Neither testifies. During deliberations, the jury sends out the following note: “Can we take the defendants[’] body language into consideration? As evidence?” To which the judge responds: “While not evidence, the jury is entitled to consider any observations you made of the defendants’ demeanor during the trial.” An hour later, the jury convicts Ruiz but acquits Delacruz. Ruiz appeals, arguing that his conviction was based, in part, on the jury’s perception that he looked like a criminal. In other words, Ruiz argues that he failed, while sitting silently at the defendants’ table, to appear innocent to a group of strangers – strangers who came to court, as anyone would, with acculturated views and biases about how law-abiding people self-present – and that a conviction on this basis violated his constitutional rights.