Grand Jury Testimony
Witnesses compelled by subpoena to appear before a grand jury are entitled to receive immunity in exchange for their testimony. The grant of immunity impairs the witness's right to invoke the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination as a legal basis for refusing to testify. If a witness who has been granted immunity nevertheless refuses to offer testimony, he may be held in contempt of the court that issued the subpoena.
In Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441 (1972), the Supreme Court confronted the issue of which type of immunity, use or transactional, is constitutionally required in order to compel testimony. The Court ruled that the grant of "use and derivative use" immunity is sufficient.
Despite the ruling in Kastigar, the type of immunity required to compel testimony depends on the law of the applicable jurisdiction. Many states, such as New York, do more than the Federal Constitution requires and mandate that transactional immunity be accorded to compelled witnesses.
In states where a defendant has a right to testify on their own behalf at a grand jury proceeding, waiver of immunity is invariably a condition of that right.
Read more about this topic: Immunity From Prosecution
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