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When immunity trumps the Fifth Amendment.

By Marks & Katz, LLC

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides, in part, that no person "shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself."  However, over thirty-five years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that witnesses can be compelled to give immunized testimony even if they assert their Fifth Amendment right not to be witnesses against themselves: "[T]he immunity provided by 18 U.S.C. § 6002 leaves the witness and the prosecutorial authorities in substantially the same position as if the witness had claimed the Fifth Amendment privilege. The immunity therefore is coextensive with the privilege and suffices to supplant it." Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441, 462, rehrg. denied, 408 U.S. 931 (1972).  The above-referenced 18 U...continue to full post

Full post as published by Underdog on September 10, 2009 (boomark / email).