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Yes, the Fifth Can Be Invoked In Civil Cases | 107 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
The 5th
Authored by: rsteinmetz70112 on Friday, November 09 2012 @ 01:06 PM EST
I think you can only claim the 5th if it could incriminate you.

I'm not sure what the standard is but at some point refusing to testify at all
is contempt of court or in a criminal case even obstruction of justice.
Especially if it could be shown there was no criminal activity involved.

Answering some things like when you were born or usually where you were on a
certain day (unless you might have been engaged in a criminal activity) aren't
covered. Neither are civil matters. For example if you are married and you were
asked where you were, being with your girlfriend isn't a reason to take the 5th
because it's not illegal so you would need to answer but it won't help your
divorce.

I think also in some cases if you are granted immunity from prosecution you must
testify, since there is no danger of self-incrimination.

---
Rsteinmetz - IANAL therefore my opinions are illegal.

"I could be wrong now, but I don't think so."
Randy Newman - The Title Theme from Monk

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Yes, the Fifth Can Be Invoked In Civil Cases
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, November 10 2012 @ 12:41 PM EST
This can get very complicated in individual cases, but there are some general
rules. A party can invoke the Fifth Amendment during civil proceedings to
withhold discovery. If that happens, the other party can move to compel,
including by asking the judge to rule that there is no reasonable apprehension
of criminal prosecution and therefore no proper basis for invoking the Fifth.
The judge then can look at the particular facts of the case and decide whether
to compel the discovery or not. As another general rule, if a party invokes the
Fifth Amendment in a civil case (and quite unlike what happens in criminal
cases), the court and the jury are allowed draw adverse inferences from the
invocation of the Fifth Amendment against the invoking party. This can be done,
for example, through an instruction to the jury that it may, but need not, infer
from the invocation of the Fifth that the withheld evidence or testimony would
have been unfavorable to the invoking party. Needless to say, invoking the
Fifth in a civil case looks pretty bad.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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