If a witness chooses to refuse to incriminate someone, is there a way to do it without being charged with contempt or obstruction of justice? I was watching *The Negotiator *tonight, and it got me thinking. A couple examples that come to mind: 1) If my sister committed a crime and told me about it afterward, I would most likely not testify against her (it would have to be something really heinous, like first-degree murder or rape, to change my mind on this). 2) If I witnessed a crime based on a bad law that I believe should be civilly disobeyed (like marijuana use or a drug deal), I would not testify for or against either party.
Ideally, I would prefer to avoid charges and a potential prison sentence while still refusing to betray my own values. So what would be the best thing to say when put on the stand? Just parroting “I don’t recall,” over and over again? I know that outright refusal to take the stand would be contempt or obstruction automatically…
I’m no expert in American law but journalists have certainly gone to jail for refusing to give evidence. The interests of justice over-ride your personal loyalties which I’m sure you understand.
In common law jurisdictions, if the information comes under the heading ofprivileged then you cannot be compelled to to give it. The most common are self-incrimination, spousal privilege, Lawyer-client etc. But these are rather narrow in scope and should not be relied upon without consulting a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction.
It is possible that your juridiction extends the concept of privilege to siblings but I frankly doubt it.
I’ve never heard of someone being able to refuse to testify just because the defendant was their sibling, nor have I heard of any legal way you can say “I disagree that this should be illegal so I refuse to testify.”
Saying “I don’t recall” if you do recall is perjury and a serious crime.
Contempt of court actually can result in a fairly lengthy incarceration, it isn’t just a fine or a slap on the wrist. When a Federal grand jury was investigating BALCO / Barry Bonds, Bonds’ trainer Greg Anderson refused to testify. He was sent to Federal prison for contempt of court for the duration of the grand jury, and once it ended he was released. When they then pursued new charges against Bonds he again refused to testify and was again imprisoned, I think eventually being sentenced to a few years for the offense. I think all told he spent 2-3 years incarcerated.
All that being said, I do believe if police are investigating a crime and have an uncooperative witness and a weak case overall I imagine sometimes the prosecutor may choose not to pursue the case.