Just a hypothetical (I am not going to court for anything or know anyone who is):
I understand pleading the Fifth is a right against self incrimination. However, what happens if the self incrimination is not direct?
For instance:
The prosecutor asks me, “Did you shoot person-X?” I can plead the Fifth.
The prosecutor asks me, “Did you see George shoot person-X?” Now assume admitting my presence at the scene of the crime implicates me in the crime (maybe I was the getaway driver). Can I still plead the Fifth?
IANAL, but I believe the short answer is yes. It wouldn’t stop an investigation into what you’re avoiding talking about using other means.
Then there’s offers of immunity, which is more complicated than I can summarize.
Yes, but if the answer you gave would not incriminate you, you’d have no objection to saying so, hence pleading the fifth is an admission of guilt, and only delaying the inevitable, surely?
Q: “were you in Dealy Plaza on the 22[sup]nd[/sup] of November 1963”
A: “I refuse to answer … Fifth Amendment”
Q: Aha, so you were part of the conspiracy to assassinate JFK,
A: Noo, I was picking peoples pockets in Dealy Plaza on the 22[sup]nd[/sup] of November 1963 and admitting I was there strips me of my first defense “I wasn’t there, SODDI”.
So, not an admission of involvement in the case being tried, but an admission of evidence that could be then used in a completely unrelated case.
I’m reasonably certain that not only do judges during instruction (the last part of a trial, before the jury begins deliberations) explicitly explain to the jury that they may not view taking the Fifth as an admission of anything, they almost always give that instruction during trial when someone claims the privilege, it’s that important.
CMC +fnord!
IaNaL, but I play one on the intarnetwebtubes!