Quote: (05-17-2015 12:55 PM)Katatonic Wrote:
I have a question that hopefully can be answered by one of our esteemed practitioners of the legal arts. Can a witness being subpoenaed by the defense invoke their fifth amendment right against self-incrimination if their testimony would potentially provide evidence that they violated federal law, even though their actions were perfectly legal according to state law? The case is being tried at the state level in California. Thank you in advance.
Yes. I had this issue on Friday as a matter of fact. In many cases, it makes sense for a witness in such a situation to hire an attorney for the sole purpose of asserting the privilege. The prosecution in some cases, can and will give the witness immunity, meaning that he or she cannot be prosecuted as a result of anything he or she says while testifying.